The Vortex Jazz Club, 11 Gillett Square, London N16 8JH | Bookings 020 7254 4097 | Enquiries 020 7993 3643 | Email Info at Vortex

November 2007
gig reviews

The Necks
Porpoise Corpus
The Chris Lowe Quintet
Evan Parker, Barry Guy
 Paul Lytton, Peter Evans
Ian Shaw
Radioplay
Fraud
Hih
Zoe Rahman Trio
Robert Mitchell
 and Corey Mwamba
Billy Jenkins and
 Steve Morrison

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November gig reviews by Chris Parker

Hih - Monica Vasconcelos

Friday 23 November

Monica Vasconcelos is probably – as recently recognised by her inclusion in the Guardian's list of '1,000 Albums to Hear Before You Die' (which included the wrong albums by Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen, to name but three; don't get me started) – the UK's most skilled performer of Brazilian song, and for this (Friday 23) sellout gig (another SRO Vortex; over 1,000 people have attended the London Jazz Festival performances at the club) she was joined by a new band, Hih, featuring keyboard master Steve Lodder and drummers Ralph Salmins and Adriano Adewale.

Percussion thus took centre stage in her visits to Brazilian classics and the odd original (one co-composed by Lodder and Robert Wyatt, with lyrics by Alfie Benge, the latter couple present in the audience), and jazz solos (some from guest flugelhorn player Tom Arthurs) jockeyed for position in the bubbling soundmix.

Despite occasional intonation problems (signalled by the vocalist's finger in the ear, something generally associated with traditional folk singers), Vasconcelos delighted the heaving club with a characteristically lively and intimately informal performance, and – as she herself noted – her new band purveys an intriguing mix of Brazilian music and jazz, mostly jaunty and joyous, but occasionally laced with languorous melancholy.

 

 

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