An Evening of Ella

Helen Gayle is an East Midlands based jazz vocalist with jazzy and soulful tones, who has performed on various projects and gigs with the likes of Matt Ratcliffe, Martyn Spencer, Euan Campbell, Richard Kensington and Wayne Matthews amongst others. She is also the founder of Latin Voices, a jazz fusion band.

A few months hither, in that epicentre of Coventry’s renowned artistic hub, Fargo Village, I had the enviable good fortune to be present at what has to be one of the most phenomenal evenings of musical entertainment which the venue can boast to having ever hosted.

The shadow of Ella Fitzgerald looms large upon the effortlessly inspired scat singing of Helen Gayle, an artist whose boppish improvisations rekindle an era of jazz at its most vital.

When it comes to ballads, the performer in question is bestowed with sumptuously lyrical performative prowess: At times, such as during a particularly heart-searing rendition of “These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)”, it seemed there was scarcely a dry eye in sight.

The closing number, a positively Parkerian performance of Ellington’s classic “Take The A-Train”, cemented the evening in my memory as being a triumphal and thoroughly virtuosic tour-de-force of creative genius, and it is with great fervour that I anticipate my next opportunity to bask in the glory of jazz colossus Helen’s next performance.