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Neatly Balanced
A City Lit music gala,
enjoyed by MALCOLM MILLER
'The Best of City Lit' might have been the title for an inspiring concert at St George's Church, Bloomsbury, London, UK, on 2 June 2010, for this evening of varied musical styles, given by students and tutors of the City Literary Institute in Keeley Street, Central London, displayed high standards of performance coupled with enriching qualities of community and amateur music-making.
The climax of the evening was the appearance of Ian Shaw, singer pianist who won the BBC Jazz Award in 2004 and 2007. He performed two songs and then joined in impromptu with the stunning a capella group under the direction of Della Rhodes, tutor-coordinator for jazz and popular music studies at City Lit. Ian Shaw first sang a moving song entitled Letter from a Dead Soldier which he dedicated to a victim of the Afghanistan war, yet its eloquent lyricism and poignant cutting edge harmony was enhanced by the choir's backing support and his highly modulated vocal colours. It was followed by a witty and frothy version of the Rodriguez Guitar Concerto set as a love song about Spain, and he took delight in some witty scat improvisation and really virtuoso self-accompanying at the piano...
Copyright © 12 June 2010
Malcolm Miller,
London UK
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