Live Review: The Songs of Ross Lorraine at Piano Smithfield, London
Kevin Whitlock
Thursday, October 3, 2024
The composer's tunes, as found on his latest album More From the Heart, were celebrated by an all-star group of singers and musicians in London. Kevin Whitlock was there to witness it...
Photo: Lucas Fisher-Horas
Ross Lorraine is a kind of one-man 21st century Tin Pan Alley, a composer whose light touch and witty lyrics have earned him the admiration of not just the cream of contemporary Brit-jazz players and singers, but a growing public too.
Tonight we’re at Piano Smithfield in London to celebrate his latest album Songs of Ross Lorraine: More from the Heart. Ross isn’t performing, but he is in the audience (as are a number of UK jazz notables) and there’s an all-star cast, led by Lorraine cheerleader/album producer Claire Martin, to bring his songs to life: singers Joanna Eden, Iain Mackenzie, Noemi Nuti, Irene Serra, Christine Tobin and Charlie Wood; plus a lithe backing band of pianist Nicki Iles, bassist Laurence Cottle, drummer Ian Thomas and James McMillan on trumpet.
Martin opens proceedings with an appropriately zesty ‘The Name Of The Game’ and there’s a pair of tunes sung by Mackenzie. One of these, ‘Dear Betty’ is a highlight of the night – based on the story of a man who killed himself just to spite his wife, and left behind a barbed suicide note, it features beautifully mordant lyrics rendered with relish. ‘Scissors Paper Stone’ is a ballad beautifully sung by Nuti, with an exquisite trumpet solo. Serra tackles two numbers, ‘You Never Knew Me’ (accurately described as ‘an uptempo tune with the soul of a ballad’) and the delicious ‘He Said She Said’, a witty musing on gossip and human nature.
There’s more wit and astute observational humour on show when Charlie Wood sings ‘Downtime’, a song about not having anything to do, and the entire company joins Joanna Eden onstage for ‘Get Down on Your Knees, a suitably rousing finale.
As an entertaining night out, this was great; as a showcase for a group of superb singers and instrumentalists, it hit the spot. And as a demonstration of the quality of Lorraine’s writing, you couldn’t ask for more. All his tunes on show here were beautifully constructed, compact enough never to outstay their welcome, yet also flexible and open enough to allow Iles and company to stretch out and express themselves. Oh, and those lyrics!