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

May 2008
gig reviews

Sleepthief
Lotte Anker
Oriole
Ian Shaw
Pippo Matino
Puma
Eddie Parker's Twittering Machine
Arun Ghosh
Evelyn Petrova and Alexander Balanescu
Julian Siegel Quartet

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May 2008 gig reviews by Chris Parker

Ian Shaw

Saturday 10 May

'You could have been at home barbecuing; instead, you've come out to hear me. Thank you.' Thus Ian Shaw, in characteristically warmly teasing mode, welcoming a healthy-sized Vortex audience to another intimate solo show.

He began with a couple of Joni Mitchell songs (he sang at least half a dozen during his two sets, including 'Cherokee Louise', 'Raised on Robbery', 'Woman of Heart and Mind', and 'Big Yellow Taxi') and finished with Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', and, in between, visited songs by Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Jimmy Van Heusen and Tom Waits, plus performing a sprinkling of material from his self-penned latest album, Lifejacket (see CD reviews section), but as usual, Shaw's manner was arguably as important as, if not more important than, his matter.

He is a past master at gauging an audience's mood and entertaining it accordingly, frequently stopping mid-song to relate an anecdote ('my sister tells me I change into Elvis in the middle of this next verse') or prefacing pieces with a wry or waspish comment (one such about a contemporary composer provoking quite a little spat with an audience member not sharing his views), but underpinning his whole performance are solid musicianly values manifested in occasional bursts of jazzy piano or carefully controlled scatting Ð he frequently says that the Vortex is his favourite venue, and it shows on nights such as this.

 

 

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