MUSIC

Coronation Tap, Bristol (Tue 20 Nov)

The last time I saw Julia Biel in Bristol it was at St George’s, backed by a dazzling band of jazzers including Idries Rahman’s sax and Seb Rochford on drums. They were a great contemporary jazz band doing what they should but somewhere in the middle were songs that needed to be heard and somehow got forgotten. Tonight’s gig is altogether more stripped down, with Biel on guitar and keyboard and Dave Pearson adding unassuming lead guitar touches. It’s a better arrangement, albeit one that puts the spotlight unflinchingly on the songs and her voice. Happily she is more than capable of filling that spotlight, being a performer for whom the word ‘redoubtable’ was invented. Tonight’s Coritap crowd is mixed and possibly unprepared for something so subtle: one group has even pitched itself firmly in front of the performers with a view to rabbiting ceaselessly throughout the evening. It’s a kind of rudeness unthinkable if you aren’t yourself that self-absorbed but, if it annoys those listening, it hardly seems to bother Ms Biel who could deliver her songs with panache through a hail of bottles in Bob’s Country Bunker. Shorn of the jazz excursions those songs mostly do the work for her, with old favourites like ‘Souvenirs’ benefiting from Pearson’s chiming Gretsch guitar and ‘Say It Out Loud’ bringing out his inner shoegazer, not playing a solo so much as adding carefully designed embellishments while the song unfolds the frustration of a relationship where too much is unspoken. On ‘Diamond Dust’ things get quite Pink Floyd as Biel’s keyboard and Pearson’s guitar meander off on an interlude and ‘Nobody Loves You Like I Do’ brings a truly impassioned edge to her voice. It’s a great voice, always on the edge of rasping yet capable of fine clear notes when they’re needed. At the piano she evoke’s Blossom Dearie (no bad thing) on songs like ‘You’re A Tease’ and ‘Emily’ while ‘Beyond My Control’ has Pearson delivering a cascade of retro-rock references perfectly suited to his vintage guitar as she intones her mordant lyrics. Great songs performed with aplomb from a singer/songwriter who deserves to be much better known (and hopefully soon back in Bristol). (Tony Benjamin)

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2012