It would be a safe bet to claim that the majority of the audience did not know what to expect when they booked their tickets. They would have known Hugh Laurie from television as a comic actor or from House but were unaware of his talent for music.
Laurie was superb on both piano and guitar, with pleasing vocals. Together with the seven-piece Copper Bottom Band, an exhilarating evening of jazz, blues and Gospel music was delivered, interspersed with self deprecating “witterings” – his word.
The choice of material was very much a personal one – old songs he had loved for years from great artists that he revered. Mention of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Champion Jack Dupree brought back memories of seeing those artists performing on that very stage.
Didn’t It Rain, the title track from the latest album, was given storming Gospel delivery by Gaby Moreno and Sister Jean McClain. The latter was sizzling in the Bessie Smith number, Send Me To The ’Lectric Chair.
The show climaxed with a sequence of numbers that had the audience up on their feet – Green Green Rocky Road, Go To The Mardi Gras, Changes and Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell.
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