Katie Melua - Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth
"I LOVE you and goodnight..."
Signing off with Eva Cassidy's Anniversary Song was a poignant touch which brought this remarkable concert full circle.
Katie Melua, the 19-year-old everybody's talking about, is often compared to Cassidy and she opened the set with her own tribute to her, Faraway Voice.
But the Georgian-born singer has a unique and distinctive talent all of her own and this showcase, featuring a cool, tightly-knit six-piece headed by Mike Batt on piano, left nobody in any doubt about it.
Equally at home in the worlds of jazz, blues and folk, Katie has a wonderful way of communicating a song by immersing herself in its emotional world.
She's sophisticated (Learning the Blues), sultry and sexy (My Aphrodisiac is You) and melancholy (Lilac Wine).
Your heart aches when she shows her vulnerability (Tiger In The Night, The Closest Thing To Crazy).
But then she plays the tigress when belting out Mockingbird Song, I Put A Spell On You and - a tempting taster from her next album - Spider's Web, a rousing attack on racism.
Providing support was James Blunt, a purveyor of thoughtful ballads who had a nice line in self-deprecating humour. He reminded me a little of Neil Young.
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