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What better way to take the edge off a cold Monday night in winter than in the company of jazz vocalist Elisa Caleb and her impressive quintet? Those were my thoughts whilst sat ensconced in the candlelit intimacy of the Vortex Jazz Bar last Monday as the lovely Mrs Caleb and band took to the stage. Elisa’s unadulterated jazz and blues offerings make for a refreshing change to the many Beyoncé-wannabes currently cluttering the R&B/Pop stable.
And if you are expecting just another evening of standards and covers, think again. The majority of Elisa’s set is comprised of original material written by her husband, guitarist
Jo Caleb. These sophisticated and intelligent compositions – with just a little feel for
Norah Jones - are the perfect vehicle for the warm, honeyed vocals of his missus.
Songs such as starkly arranged ‘The Wind’, ‘Bring Back Spring’, ‘Falling Towers’ and the wonderfully enchanting bossa nova number ‘Untitled no.1’ showcase the pure attraction of Elisa’s voice. One would hardly believe that the songstress didn’t even consider herself a singer well into young adulthood; she’s certainly made up for lost time.
It’s something of a cliché now to say a band defies categorisation but the sonic mavericks of Sankorfa are only too worthy of this observation. Formed in 2004, Guildhall School of Music alumnae Michael Allen, Zands Duggan, Ruth Gomez and Scott Wilson are the four multi-instrumentalists behind the band, who borrow their name from an African word meaning ‘looking back to go forward’.
Their energetic live performances, as demonstrated at the Borderline venue in London last Friday consist of these highly skilled percussionists swapping and navigating around various instruments to produce strange soundscapes that are at once lush and stark.