“You’ve got candles, we’ve gone posh,” said Liane Carroll as she launched into renditions of Nina Simone’s Wild Is The Wind and Sinner Man which the legendary jazz singer would surely have been proud of.

This set the tone for the evening: powerful songs, interspersed with playful banter and self-mockery both in between and during songs.

Carroll was very natural, and comfortable in her own skin, not surprising for such a raw talent.

As well as performing beautiful covers such as Cole Porter’s Love For Sale, and Tom Waits’s Take It With Me, the award-winning jazz musician - a regular at London’s Ronnie Scotts - sang some of her formidable self-penned love songs. Three Sheets To The Wind had been written while sitting amid Hong Kong’s red-light district, and Dublin Morning was written for her husband.

The audience sat transfixed, touched by the range and emotion of Carroll’s powerful husky voice then burst into frequent laughter at her jokes.

In the second half, Carroll, who is based in Hastings, was joined by her bassist husband, Roger Carey.

As the crowd spilled out, after an encore of It’s A Wonderful Life, there was nothing but praise and admiration for the performer.