A timeless voice Speaks Low: Elaine Delmar's album launch enchants Pizza Express Jazz Club
Peter Quinn
Monday, November 11, 2024
The launch of Elaine Delmar's latest album Speak Low transcended mere performance – it felt more like a distillation of 50 years of jazz artistry
Backed by an exceptional quartet featuring Jim Mullen on guitar, Barry Green on piano, Simon Thorpe on bass, and Bobby Worth on drums, the 2023 Parliamentary Jazz Awards' Vocalist of the Year delivered an evening of pure musical magic.
Drawing from her illustrious five-decade career, Delmar showcased arrangements crafted specifically for her singular voice. Bob Cornford's reimagining of ‘Tea for Two’ as an impressionistic ballad, with Green's sensitive accompaniment, seemed to suspend time itself. The Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash title track, arranged by John Taylor, emerged as a tender masterpiece that held the audience spellbound.
The evening's other highlights were numerous: Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone's ‘Stars’ shimmered with gorgeous harmonies. Delmar’s duet with Thorpe on ‘Close Your Eyes’ channelled Shirley Horn's legendary languor, and Mullen's solo on ‘There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York’ soared with melodic brilliance.
A moment of profound delight was hearing Delmar revisit ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ from her starring role in the 1976 West End production of Bubbling Brown Sugar, while her bass-and-voice rendition of ‘Summertime’, a song almost done to death, emerged fresh and vital, commanding pin-drop silence from the mesmerised audience.
The quintet's journey through the Great American Songbook continued way beyond the album’s track list, with a luxuriant ‘Embraceable You’, a swinging ‘I've Got You Under My Skin’ and a vibrant ‘It's All Right with Me’, in which Mullen’s solo deftly wove in a quote from the opening of Mozart's Symphony No. 40. Whatever the tempo, Delmar's impeccable rhythm and phrasing demonstrated why she remains one of jazz's most compelling voices.
Throughout the evening, the deep connection between Delmar and her long-standing bandmates was palpable, creating an atmosphere of warmth and artistic communion. A testament to a lifetime of musical excellence, Speak Low deserves a place in any serious jazz fan’s collection.
