Knockin' em out at the Jazz Café

Review
Keisha White

Jazz Café

HERE’S something you probably don’t know about the Jazz Café in Parkway: a musician once knocked himself out while playing there, and after that, they put a blue light strip on that side of the stage.
And, did you know that it used to be a Barclays bank, and that the STFU sign that adorns the stage pillar is from a bygone age when jazz musicians played quietly and wanted the audience to Shut The ‘F’ Up.
Nowadays it’s a different scene, where cheering and heckles are welcomed.
Making an ever so slightly late entrance to wolfwhistles and energetic clapping was Londoner Keisha White, who looked every inch the new soul funk star. She oozed sexy self-possession – and she’s still only 19.
Her honeyed voice worked well on the slow ballads and stripped-down tunes, although her material was too American at times.
On her myspace page she complains about how hard it is to crack the urban market in the UK, and this apparently forced her stateside where she became chums with Alicia Keys and Pharrel Williams. Not so bad.
But while I hear what she’s saying about the indie-heavy British chart scene, she has gone a bit overboard on the American influence – her adlibbing was full of “you guys” with a USA twang.
It just made me question the production on some of her new stuff, and the direction she’s going in. Admittedly the biggest R’n’B stars in England are American, but the British singers who’ve gone down best here are the ones who have stuck to their roots – notably Ms Dynamite.
I think she sounds best with a stripped down band, and one of her best numbers on the night was What’s On Your Mind, with just a guitar.
But don’t mistake me – also the name of her new single – her cover of the Joan Armatrading little-known The Weakness In Me went down a storm. She does a killer ballad.
But considering she was signed and touring with cool girl group Misteeq at 16, and is releasing her second album this week, she’s hardly taken her time to grow up.

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