JAZZ REVIEW: Georgia Cécile @ EFG London Jazz Festival

“The past is a foreign country;” wrote L. P. Hartley in the The Go-Between, “they do things differently there.” Like go to jazz clubs. But the “deadly nightshade” that is Covid-19 put paid to that.

Thankfully, many festivals, venues and artists have embraced technology to fill the void with the sound of music. One such being the EFG London Jazz Festival which in its 28th year has programmed over 100 pre-recorded and live-streamed gigs over ten days in November.

The “belladonna” in Hartley’s novel was, of course, a poisonous plant. But its Italian root “bella donna” translates as “beautiful lady”. A fitting description of Scottish songstress Georgia Cecile whose pre-recorded concert of thirteen standards and originals, broadcast exclusively on the 606 Club’s website, lived up to the title of her latest single about her wee-in-years but big-of-heart brother Always Be Right For Me.

Winner of Best Scottish Jazz Vocalist in 2019 and nominated for Jazz FM Vocalist of the Year 2020, Cecile’s star is well and truly on the rise. A trajectory which will no doubt blaze brighter following the release of her debut album in the spring. A number of songs from which featured in her 75-minute set backed by her stellar quartet of pianist and collaborator Euan Stevenson, bassist Mario Caribé and drummer Max Popp who last performed together on Burns Night as part of Celtic Connections.

Befrocked in a glitzy black and silver number which was matched in sultriness by her opening track Exactly Like You, her second tune, Month Of May, an original composition with a fresh, contemporary vibe, plumbed the depths of love further with a celebration of and lamentation about “those golden days when romance lingers” before fizzling out with a “burn leaving cinders”.

Several more standards peppered the set, notably a tender cover of Time After Time, a bluesy purring of You Turned The Tables On Me and a wistful interpretation of I Fall In Love Too Easily; but the standout tunes were definitely her own compositions, co-written by Stevenson.

The recurring themes of which being the ever-changing seasons and the equally shape-shifting enigma that is love. Harpoon To The Heart being what used to be referred to in theatre-land as the show-stopping “11 o’clock number”. Though the sentiments of her un-named penultimate song, “written as a stream of consciousness”, linger in the mind longest: “trust that all that you have is all that you need”.

The past is, indeed, a foreign country. As is the present lockdown of music venues, theatres and cinemas. But here’s hoping the not-too-distant future heralds a brighter dawn for the country and its beleaguered arts and hospitality sectors, reminding us in the words of Cecile’s closing number that Blue Is Just A Colour.