Audrey Powne [Hamilton-Coates]

What to do when two artists you really want to see live are playing on the same night? Well, if they are in Soho, and the timings are right, you can catch both – if you are up for a quick sprint from Frith Street to Dean Street.

This is made possible by Ronnie Scott’s having introduced, since Covid, two shows a night, with the earlier one starting at 6.30pm (doors 5.30pm). Most evening it is the same performer doing two sets. Occasionally, though, there are two different acts, as there were last Thursday.

Luckily for my plans, Australian-born, classically-trained Audrey Powne was on the first shift. She is a trumpeter/singer championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson and Robert Elms and who released a well-received cinematic-soul-jazz album (with a strong thread of personal and environmental commentary) called From the Fire last year.

Live this translated into a set that veered from infectious groove-laden tunes to introspective singer-songwriter stylings.

My companion felt this meant the set lacked focus (he snorted when she introduced a song being about ADHD, rather unfairly as it turned out) but in fact Ms Powne has a strong, engaging voice, pleasingly free of modish tick and tricks.

She won me over with a version of Jerome Kern’s I Wish You Love and her trumpet playing, especially later in the set when it was shorn of delays and reverb, was a joy.

OK, she could tighten her stagecraft somewhat, and stop being quite so self-deprecating – after all, the charming Ms Powne has talent to burn in all departments, as she demonstrated on the title track of the album and the languorously smooth grooves of Feed the Fire.

Good band, too, especially Ronnie’s debutante Ollie Rolfe on piano. She is going on tour with Tim Minchin soon, which means, as she said, she’ll have to learn the songs from Matilda. Let’s hope she doesn’t neglect her own craft and material – there’s much more to come from this Aussie expat.

Hakan Basar [MSJ Photography]

I had to sacrifice the last few minutes of Audrey Powne’s set to make it for the beginning of Hakan Başar’s performance at the Pizza Express.

Mr Başar, who is from Turkey, was something of a child prodigy, playing gigs, and impressing audiences and critics, as a young teenager.

What we had on stage now, though, was a man, not a precocious boy, and, unlike Audrey Powne’s broad musical vision, this gig had both feet firmly planted in the modern jazz camp.

So, we had a lovely expansive version of Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage and a finger-blurring workout on McCoy Tyner’s post-bop classic Inception (from Tyner’s debut album on Impulse!).

In the course of the two-set show, Başar moved effortlessly from delicate, rippling solo piano to keys-bothering riffing that had him bouncing on his stool, with his trio locked in solid behind him.

Talking of which, kudos are due to drummer Marc Ayza from Barcelona, who was depping that night for the regular kit man and who wowed the audience with his deft inventiveness and intricate dynamics. “How much time have you had to rehearse with your new bandmates?” I asked him in the interval. “None,” came the surprising reply. But that’s jazz, I guess.

Hakan Başar first played the Pizza when he was 15 and has an obvious affection for the Soho basement – he’ll be back, catch him if you can.

So, two gigs, one night. Too much? Not at all – as the second show ended just after 10, it was almost an early night. Although walking back to the tube, I passed Ronnie’s ,where the queue was already forming for the Late Late Show. I was tempted to join it, but no, I was jazzed enough for one evening.

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Upcoming:

Olivia Cuttill [Isabella Cuttill]

Olivia Cuttill is another young lady with a horn. Her style is more deliberately and unapologetically retro than either Audrey Powne or the other hot trumpeter of the moment, Poppy Daniels, but her Armstrong/Morgan-influenced playing and her Bette Midler-ish way with a swinging boogie-woogie (see her number Show Biz Casino) is totally infectious and she writes a damn good tune and lyric.

Her new album is called …And Writing And Singing And Tunes To Be Swingin’  and includes a fresh and perky take on Bobby Timmons’ classic tune Moanin’ , which showcases Olivia’s trumpet chops and there’s even a touch of Patti Page on There’s a House Down by the Station.

The launch is at the intimate Alfie’s in Greek Street, Soho, on September 11
tickets: www.universe.com/events/olivia-cuttill-and-writing-and-singing-tunes-to-be-swingin-album-launch-tickets-QV5SZ2

• Her performance is part of the annual Soho Jazz Festival, which runs September 10-14 and includes no less than 30 gigs by top names at 15 venues across Soho – including the new Jack Solomons Jazz Club on Great Windmill Street. There’s also a mobile double-decker festival bus featuring an exhibition of jazz photographers.
See: www.sohojazzfestival.com or
www.universe.com/events/soho-jazz-festival-2025-4-day-all-access-pass-whole-festival-tickets-QTF5VW?unii-trigger-open=QTF5VW

Brigitte Beraha with her Lucid Dreamers [Monika S Jakubowska]

A very different artist also has a September album launch.

Brigitte Beraha (who has featured in these pages thanks to her work with guitarist Ant Law) is fiercely adventurous, not afraid to push beyond the usual jazz boundaries into experimental soundscapes, collective improvisation, art rock, social commentary and musings on the human condition. Think Norma Winstone and you are in the right ballpark, although that’s only a rough guide to her range.

Her strong and sometimes unsettling (in a good way) new album with her Lucid Dreamers ensemble is called Teasing Reflections and, as usual, features fierce and fluid playing from an intuitive collective of musicians – George Crowley (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, electronics), Alcyona Mick (piano, synth) and Tim Giles (drums, percussion, electronics) and it is worth investing in time to investigate Ms Beraha sometimes mysterious worldview.
She really is quite special.

The launch is at the Vortex on September 24
tickets: www.vortexjazz.co.uk/event/brigitte-berahas-lucid-dreamers-album-launch/