Stacey Kent beguiles at Ronnie Scott’s

It was a starry, starry night at Ronnie’s, replete with Nobel prize winners taking a bow, and besotted fans if not exactly falling over themselves to grasp the hem of Stacey Kent’s skirts (or ever elegant slacks in this case although after show she swiftly jeaned up), then at least zealous to get that much lusted for selfie with the diminutive songstress. 

But why not, in a world of trouble and strife? When Kent talks of the last year being extraordinary, she’s not referring to Ukraine or Palestine, but to world travel and new music. Kent, in her still, beguiling stage presence, in her clarity of expression, her ability to turn even the most clichéd of lyrics into a Chekhov-like short story (or more like a Maupassant tale given her affinity for all things Gallic), has the capacity to enthral even the most hardened of hearts, to set aside the world’s malaises, and instead seduce us into the romance of love, loss and bitter-sweet memory. 

This final show of a 10-gig run at Ronnie’s was meant to be the launch of her new, exquisitely finessed album Summer Me, Winter Me. But in a rear end shunt from the outside world, all the CDs were stuck in customs at Stansted Airport. Vive le Brexit.

But we still had the songs; the pitter-pattering delight of the title track, a divinely paced ‘Under Paris Skies’ with fabulous piano from the ever-loyal Art Hirahara (above left - photo by Robert Crowley), and the touching whimsy of ‘Postcard Lovers’. The latter came from the most intriguing part of the evening, a mini-set of its own, containing four songs with lyrics by Kazuo Ishiguro and music by Kent’s musical and life partner, Jim Tomlinson. They feature in the Nobel novelist’s book The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain. Each song was accompanied by a series of illustrations projected on three screens behind the trio, bringing a further poignancy to the songs. 

Through it all hubby Jim Tomlinson laid down subtle flute and sax, and inevitably rolled out a line or two of vocals, a classic Beauty and the Beast contrast, but it reflects the tenderness still evident in their marriage, despite all the airport lounges they must have hung out in. Like Mike and Kate Westbrook, they still steal glances at each other across the stage. And that’s why we love them. Because beneath the glam and gushing, they’re really just like you and me.