Jazz and Poetry and a Soupcon of Led Zeppelin from Esther Bennett at Spice of Life

There were a couple of notable firsts for this reviewer at Esther Bennett’s Spice of Life gig on 16 February. It was a notably diverse audience, even including a woman attired in a headscarf, as well as a fair sprinkling of jazz cognoscenti.  This was the first time I’d heard a poetry rendition at live jazz, although this is not new, of course, Patricia Barber in particular draws on the poetry of e.e. cummings on her album Modern Cool;  poetry and jazz complement each other like chilli and pasta. Esther’s poetry though is her own creation. And it’s the first time I’ve ever heard a song associated with Led Zeppelin performed at jazz concert – special guest John Hogg added contrast to one of the spoken word pieces, ‘My Birmingham’ with a dynamic rendition of ‘Communication Breakdown’, performed on a well-used, with much of the varnish stripped away by his vigorous strumming, semi-acoustic Takamine guitar that, given its condition, must be a particular favourite of his. Hearing this made me want to locate my dusty copy of Led Zeppelin’s first album and give it a spin down memory lane.            

Esther Bennett doesn’t hold anything back onstage – was it my imagination that during her rendition of the ‘The Maintenance Fitter’, a tribute to her Dad as he entered palliative care, she seemed to be tearing up? A Jazzwise critic who referred to her “smokily appealing lower register”, quoted on her wonderful website, really nailed her vocal timbre. A particular highlight was her pairing of Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Lush Life’ with Amy Winehouse’s ‘Love is a Losing Game’; both of equivalent stature as unassailable classics in her view.  ‘Wandering Lost’ is particularly apposite given Spice of Life’s location in the heart of Soho, as a quick glance at the lyrics would reveal. And her song ‘Please (Save Me)’, a somewhat bittersweet account of a jazz life which name checks jazz clubs such as Spice and Ronnie’s and in which one of the voices seems to be an internalised voice of a parent, suggests that her parents’ response to her proclivities for jazz were not always all sweetness and light. ‘Despite everything you told me/I insisted that I always knew best’.   

Esther Bennett generously apportions credit to the members of her classic jazz trio, providing harmonic enhancement and textures underpinning her vocals. Long-term collaborator Terence Collie was consistently delightful with his deft melodic touch on piano, while Duncan Lamont Jr contributed tasteful and enticing flute on Bennett's fine album Safe Places; double bassist Richard Sadler undergirded everything with a sumptuous and empathetic underpinning notable for his plump tones, and Steve Taylor on drums is clearly a particular favourite of hers and was afforded several opportunities to shine. 

A feature of the performance was her sparky engagement with the audience; she’s the antithesis of the jazz performer who turns their back on the audience so as to lose themselves in the performance (Miles was far from the only one; Pat Martino for one was far from loquacious). The show spans the gauntlet of emotions from reflective to raunchy; all the while her pitch perfect singing never wavers. Her own compositions are consistently strong, and in her voice she possesses a most remarkable instrument.