Backed by a four piece band (drums, upright bass, piano and sax), Lightbody sang a wide range of her favourite songs, from Jerome Kern to The Beatles. Her music is very much of the free jazz persuasion, and there are plenty of solo opportunities for all the band members. Rachel is an engaging personality, and her enthusiasm and warmth bubbles over into her introductions. She was clearly enjoying every minute of the evening.
I'm probably not the right person to be reviewing this gig. While I loved, and was greatly impressed by, the quality of her voice, the freeform nature of the music did little for me. I have to admit that a bit of melody and rhythm are a necessity to me. In her intro to here Comes the Sun, probably the best known of the songs in her set, she encouraged the audience to sing along. Nobody did, because how can you join in when only fragments of the original tune are left to recognise?
In the end I think I enjoyed the introductions, and the pleasure on Lightbody's face, more than I did the actual music!
No comments:
Post a Comment