REPORT: Fifth Revoice! Festival / Carmen Lundy

London Jazz News – October 21, 2014

http://www.londonjazznews.com/2014/10/report-fifth-revoice-festival-carmen.html

There was a forceful reminder of how bad audiences can be – or once were-  when one audience member took the microphone at the end of the Carmen Lundy gig that I went to, and told the story that the proprietor of the Jazz Cafe -presumably Jon Dabner – was so incensed by the noise punters made during Carmen Lundy's performance there, that he had the bright yellow sign (above) made. So, is Carmen Lundy genuinely responsible for the uncompromising acronym that has looked over a quarter of a century of cohorts of Camden youth traversing their growing-up rites?  I'm not sure. We may have a genuine piece of London's live music history here, or a new urban myth.

Carmen Lundy's memories of the places she has played at here certainly are a chronicle of the exploits of imaginative promoters in London. She remembered a first appearance at Peter Ind's Bass Clef. She remembered the Jazz Cafe. Her show, showcasing the material of her fourteenth album Soul to Soul brought out a loyal crowd to Pizza Express Jazz Club. 

For me the highlight was Grace, a number co-written with South African vocalist Simphiwe Dana. The South African vibe opened up a whole new vista, a different way of living deep in a friendly groove. A singer normally happiest when she tests out the extremes of her impressive vocal and dynamic range was fully contented starting off her scatting on a monotone. Her band, fresshly flown in from Los Angeles were impressive, pianist Patrice Rushen and drummer Jamison Ross, both of whom made beautifully subtle backing vocal contributions, and the impeccable-every-time top bassist Darryl Hall.