Cardiff is famous for many things, but hot late September evenings and intimate Jazz venues are not high up on the list.
I have lived in Cardiff for over twenty years and although I have eaten many times at Cafe Jazz, sadly I have never seen any Jazz there. I have seen Jazz elsewhere, Tony Bennett, Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, Carol Kidd and Larry Adler (all at St David's Hall) , though none of those gigs were full.
I was therefore a little apprehensive to see plenty of seats available when Sarah Ellen Hughes started her set. Fortunately, a steady flux of Jazz afficiandos soon filled up the bar which was just as well as what we witnessed deserved to be seen by as many people as possible.
There is nothing like watching a live performance. Songs on YouTube may give you an idea of a voice and the type of music you may hear but it does not reveal the whole story. Jazz is about the rapport between musicians and I have never seen it better exemplified than tonight. Miss Ellen Hughes is in the early stages of a major tour ending in Liverpool in December. Most nights she performs with different musicians and this evening it was a joy to see her leading Dave Collett ( piano), Alan Vaughan ( bass) and Tom Collett ( drums) to produce the sound she wanted. ( I loved her statement to the band at the start of a tricky number " See you at the end").
A singer is generally only as good as the songs they select and tonight we were greeted with a mixture of standards, " Honeysuckle Rose", " Lady Be Good" with some self-penned songs and a few surprises alone the way. The tone of the evening was set with an unexpectedly lively version of Rodger's and Hammerstein's " My Favourite Things" before being followed by the title number of her latest album " The Story So Far" and a moving song about her late mother, " Darning That Dream".
As well as Sarah Ellen Hughes possessing a beautiful voice and great musicianship, she allows the song to tell its story without oversinging. What came as an unexpected bonus was how relaxed and funny she was between the songs, talking naturally to the audience about her life and the songs.
The danger of mixing self-penned new songs with classics is that they don't always survive the comparison with the great song-writers. Tonight, though was the exception as she proved she is also an impressive writer, for me " Working Hard" and " Busy Bee" were the highlights of a two hour set.
My wife and I came along open-minded and left converted fans and with a copy of her latest CD. If you like Jazz and want to see a performer on the way up, catch one of her remaining dates.
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