Jazz breaking news: Mina Agossi Floors ’em At Launch Of Just Like A Lady
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
A very gallant jazz club audience member was quick off the mark when in a flash he rescued a sprawling Mina Agossi, not long into her opening set, from the floor of the Pizza Express Jazz Club bandstand on Sunday night.
The French/Beninese jazz singer, over in London for the UK launch of her sassy new Naïve Records album Just Like A Lady, had keeled over in a very unlady-like manner. Apologising profusely to the audience she put it down to a dodgy knee and then proceeded as if nothing had happened, laughing if off with some aplomb.
Always a popular draw on the UK jazz festival and club circuit Agossi had quite a night of it. The bass amp packed up “after 35 years at the Pizza Express,” she told us, but versatile sound man Alex not only steered the sound balance towards the right side of sonic sanity, but also in a sleight of hand worthy of a member of the magic circle surprised even the hard gigging Agossi by producing from about his person a bunch of roses which he presented to the delighted singer at the end.
The short first set smouldered encouragingly on ‘There’s A Lull In My Life’ with the surprise turn of the night the puckish newcomer Phil Reptil on Ribot-like guitar giving the band a good lift with a kind of punk sang froid. Just as well as the slightly anonymous-sounding drummer Ichiro Onoe and workman-like bassist Eric Jacot were hardly the most captivating support for Agossi. But the band had a good laugh with the novelty song ‘J’ai Fantaisie’ dedicated to Boby Lapointe, the singer famous for his role as singing bartender in Truffaut’s film Shoot The Piano Player. With Reptil switching to less charismatic piano in the second set, which also featured a cameo from trumpeter Sue Richardson, a certain impetus was lost, yet Agossi gave it her all in the more intimate chanson-like setting, rousing for a stampeding version of ‘When The Saints.’
– Stephen Graham