Thursday, July 25, 2013

Cassandra Wilson at Ronnie Scott's

London, England. Thursday 11-July-2013

We had booked ourselves some premier seating tickets to see Cassandra when Mary got sent off to Jo'berg on business so we co-opted our friend Ros to take her ticket. Ros is an old friend of brother-in-law Pete since way back, which how we got to know her. As luck would have it my sister Jane and Pete had tickets for the same gig. They upgraded their tickets so we could all sit together which worked out well.

We were in for the early show with support band The Ronnie Scott's "International" All Stars; they added the "international" for the evening because they had guesting musicians from Belgium and New Jersey (or should that be "Noo Joisey"). Pete was impressed by the way the All Stars bassist was playing some bee-bop licks on the double bass - no mean feat apparently.

The Guardian liked it "Wilson doesn't always open a window on her soul quite as far as her technique and remarkable sound imply she might, but that reserve is often part of the attraction" (4 stars).


The Telegraph was less convinced "seductively smooth performance lacking in feeling" (3 stars).

I was nodding away to the music and when I looked round there were only a few of us who were visibly grooving to the music. Maybe some were nodding inside their skull, just not on the outside, maybe some were tapping their toes under the table, and maybe some were music tourists - there for the famous music venue rather than the specific artists. Who knows?

Afterwards it was back round the corner to Jane and Pete's flat for a quick night cap then home - it was a school night after all.

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