Bettye LaVette

Forty four years in the business certainly hasn't dampened the energy or enthusiasm of soul Queen, Bettye Lavette. With a voice combining the best of Tina Turner, Etta James, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin – smooth, raw, powerful and electric, the almost 60 year old delivered a singing masterclass. In the intimate, heavily chandeliered Bush Hall, Ms Lavette, aided by a slick, crisply tight back up band, treated the audience to an incredible vocal performance. She belted out more soul than you could shake a hundred tambourines at. Favourites among the die-hards included ‘It Serves You Right' (from the album ‘A Woman Like Me), a northern soul, bluesy Motown-esque stomp, and ‘Let Me Down Easy', one of the many highlights, which was passionate, heart-wrenching and simply stunning. You could cut the awe and enchantment with a knife. The cultured crowd were more than once stunned in to silence by a performer, that at the finale, dispensed with her trusty band, and delivered an a cappella version of Sinead O'Connor's ‘ I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got', (from her new album ‘I've Got My Own Hell To Raise').

It's remarkable that such a true talent has been neglected by the mainstream, but the captivated audience ‘in the know' were fully aware of the presence of a legend. Growing up in Detroit, unlike her peers, she wasn't a graduate of the gospel route, rather, as she says, “I am a child of the blues”. She made her first recording as a 16 year old for Johnnie Mae Matthews, and has worked alongside names as James Brown, Cab Calloway and Ben E. King. That she continues to sound vibrant, energetic and moving is a testament to unadulterated quality. And her showmanship allowed the audience in to her warmth. A neglected legend that truly deserves full recognition.

Rob Barnett, Music News