Marta Capponi, Brigitte Beraha and Truy Kerr

Vocal Summit (Marta Capponi, Brigitte Beraha and Trudy Kerr)
(Spice of Life. 18th November. 2015 EFG LJF. Review by Brian Blain)

Paul Pace’s venue at the Spice of Life at Cambridge Circus was absolutely packed. Last Wednesday, and not just because Vocal Summit. Marta Capponi, Brigitte Beraha and Trudy Kerr are brilliant performers,but because being under the umbrella of London Jazz Festival, publicity really does make a difference.

Capponi not only knocked out the crowd with a bubbling Honeysuckle Rose but a wistful I’ll Be Seeing You as well; easy to see why she is making waves. Brigitte Beraha, the slightly ethereal original artist of Babelfish, can also ‘get down with the people’ with her easy swing on This Heart of Mine as well as turning a packed pub into a rapt concert hall on I Fall In Love Too Easily – magical.

Trudy Kerr was wonderful; almost mother hennish, sending herself up just a little with a mildly coquettish reference to the ‘young men’ in the rhythm section – Rick Simpson, Mark Lewandowski and Lloyd Haines, who were positive and ‘up’ all evening. Musically she was quite majestic, a gripping out of tempo intro to Joy Spring showed that she too can be a risk taker, while on the closing But Not For Me, with all three together on stage, and a great sisterly vibe filling the room, she just shaded it for tiime and feel.

All this and a lovely new Yamaha C3 Grand Piano made Paul’s downstairs bar venue as good a place to be as any in an overly stuffed week