Live Reviews

OXFORD TIMES
2009
The Spin @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford

Juliet Kelly, who has now made three albums, is a prolific song writer as well as one of the most respected younger singers on the jazz scene. Her compositions have a colourful mix of humour and sensuality that gives them an immediacy and attraction that is not easy to master in an area of jazz that can easily swing between the banal and the opaque. But the true depth of her talent as a singer is more easily judged from her treatment of jazz standards.

She started the evening with a rendition of Nina Simone's classic, I Put a Spell on You, in which she artfully side-stepped Simone's harsh yet majestic delivery to give the song a lighter, more heartfelt message. In the second half her rendition of Ellington's Mood Indigo was equally personal but with an added twist of emotion that also came out strongly in Annie Lennox's wonderful Here Comes the Rain Again, in which Kelly with her own rich inventive phrasing brought the hairs up on the back of the neck just as Lennox does but without doing a craven imitation of the original.

Kelly was backed by a particularly strong trio of Carl Orr on guitar, Oli Hayhurst, bass and Pat Illingworth, drums. Carl Orr's years both in the studio and with some of the best on the international jazz scene has provided him with not just a wonderful technique but also a vast range of response. His solos were always perfectly suited to the tenor of the song moving effortlessly from complex chorded passages to fleet upbeat bursts that never gave a sense of repetition. Pat Illingworth, who played the perfect backing drummer most of the evening, played a driving intro to Ellington's Caravan, another classic in which Kelly showed her style. Oli Hayhurst was, as always, the perfect bass player, with some imaginative solos and a couple of exquisite duo passages with Kelly.

Kelly may not have the hard drive that some jazz fans crave but as a singer she has immaculate delivery and phrasing and writes songs that can bear repeated listening. Altogether another class act at the Spin.

PAUL MEDLEY

JAZZWISE
2005
Delicious Chemistry Album Launch
Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho

"Melancholy can be uplifting" mused Juliet Kelly between songs, as she expressed surprise that some people consider her songs to be dark. Certainly some of her songs have a touch of melancholy, but Juliet's skilful and intelligent lyrics led us through a spectrum of emotions from outright joy to the bittersweet regret of unrequited love. From 'Parallel Universe' with it's infectious beguine rhythms to the soulful delicacy of 'Unicorn Dream' with Carl Orr's atmospheric guitar accompaniment, each of Juliet's songs has its own distinctive character. And these truly are jazz songs that draw on a variety of jazz harmonies, rhythms and song forms.

If Juliet could not sing a note, her songwriting alone should assure her of a successful career. But sing she certainly can and this launch gig for her new CD, Delicious Chemistry, confirmed her as a warm, passionate and witty performer who engages with her audience as she debates life's conundrums and ironies through her songs. She also engages with her musicians so that we heard a wonderful dialogue between Tom Barlow's bass and Dave Ohm's drums, Kate Williams exploring minor blues territory on Aphrodite's Child, and the exciting build up of Omar Puente's soaring violin lines on 'Guardian Angel.'

CHARLES ALEXANDER

OXFORD TIMES
2003
Juliet Kelly & Tony Kofi
The Spin @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford

SINGER Juliet Kelly has definitely got something. Ever since her gig at "the spin @ the wheatsheaf", I've been trying to work out what it is. Thinking of other vocalists who have appeared there this season, Kelly doesn't do improvisational pyrotechnics in the manner of Clare Foster. Scat singing was very thinly spread, but the little she did was moving.

She doesn't display the raw power and passion of Reem Kelani, the Palestinian singer who took the place by storm a few weeks ago. Kelly is British, after all, and restraint is part of her technique - she hardly ever went above mezzo-forte. It was all deceptively simple. She just sang standards and a few of her own songs, sang them straight, and kept the audience captivated for a couple of hours. The arrangements were fresh and sometimes funky, and the original songs drew from wider influences, but it wasn't composition and arrangement that had the punters purring.

I think she has two secrets. First, she's a natural communicator. She established a relaxed rapport witht her audience. When she sang, she not only articulated every word, but sang as though she meant it. Her other not-so-secret weapon is alto saxophonist Tony Kofi. She sings a song sweetly and simply, then Kofi kicks in with the purest bebop - close your eyes and it's Charlie Parker. It's a good cop/bad cop act, and it works like a dream.

ROGER VAN SCHAICK

"A very, appealing, warm, singing personality - beautifully accomplished, sweet, sexy and seductive. Her higher notes are somehow very intimate and very personal. She seems to handle all areas effortlessly - ballads, medium swingers and up-tempo flyers... excellent time and poise.

It was an absolute pleasure to listen to her and the rhythm section."

IAN CARR (1999)

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