Jazz Music's New Golden Boy Shakes Ronnie Scott's
Published
The baby-faced Jarrod Lawson, on his first European tour, captivated his sold out audience at London’s Ronnie Scott’s with a rousing set comprised of tracks from his debut album.
The young Portland-based musician has been generating a lot of column inches following the release of his self-titled EP earlier this year, and his weekend show in Soho was a simple justification as to why.
With his five-piece backing band, each of which possesses outrageous talent, Lawson methodically worked through his tracks with ease, fusing funk and soul with his typically jazz-focused sound. His vocals are flawless, and the harmonies that they generate with those of his backing singers cause your hair to rise.
In the legendary venue, with lighting and acoustics tweaked to perfection, Lawson’s renditions of album favourites such as ‘Everything I Need’ and ‘Gotta Keep’ were brilliant. The audience responded to each with enthusiasm, and their rapturous affection didn’t let up throughout the entire show.
There’s always something about the Fast Show that sticks in the head when at a jazz concert; the obscure riffs and constant head-nodding are as rife as they ever were in the John Thomson sketches. But the satire is easy to overlook when the music is as good as it was at Jarrod Lawson’s gig.
And given then success of his first UK show, it surely won’t be a long wait until he’s back on these shores.
http://www.jarrodlawson.com/
http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/ Written by Luke Forshaw
