London Jazz News

Wood Street Jazz Festival, 21 July 2019

Somethin’ Else Big Band was up first, its players mostly local to Guildford with Ms. Windham on bass, and positively stormed into Manteca this prompting the first of a series of solos from tenorist Sam Parker, ‘everybody’s favourite’ according to band MD Chris Green. More good things followed but the band’s best came with the addition of guest vocalist Georgia Mancio. How gratifying to hear her sing standards in front of a mighty ensemble like this, the clarity of her line, her distinctive vocal quality and lyric understanding apparent to all. Just to hear her sing S’Wonderful or Natalie Cole’s L.O.V.E. with real swing momentum was feast enough. Mancio radiates good humour, offering peerless diction alongside a kind of jazz joie de vivre that is very enticing indeed.