MUSIC REVIEW: Jazz Night With Rama Brew

When jazz diva Rama Brew sashayed onto the stage of the jazz club on Saturday night and stood poised at the microphone, smile beaming, all my preconceptions about jazz disappeared.

I have never been to a live jazz club and had envisaged a crowded, dark den shrouded in a haze of cigarette smoke with the plaintative sound of a saxophone in the background ready to be accompanied by a solemn singer dressed in black.

The Golden Tulip Hotel jazz club couldn't have been more different. The lounge is classic and cool, hidden on the lower level of the plush hotel. There is a welcoming buzz when you enter and the mirrored walls are adorned with portraits of jazz singers, presumably those who have graced the club with their presence. When we arrived all attention was focused on the brigthly lit stage, the audience waiting in anticipation for Brew to make her entrance. The band were warming up and the background music added to the chilled out atmosphere.

Rama Brew finally made her way onto the stage in a flurry of colour and applause. She was wearing a vibrant red and yellow ensemble, not the sombre black I had expected, and had a grin on her lips that told the audience that the night was going to be a good one. She introduced the band: pianist, guitarist, and of course the anticipated saxophone player.

When she began to sing the atmosphere immediately became more upbeat. The up tempo numbers snared the audience and it wasn't long before people started to get up and dance on the shiny wooden dance floor, swirling and spinning to the music of Rama Brew and her band.

Her throaty, powerful voice isn't what I had expected. Her singing was more full of passion and life than I anticipated a jazz singer's would be and it was evident that she was enjoying every moment of her performance, as were the band who impressed everyone with their musical talents.

It wasn't long before Rama Brew was off the stage and in amongst the audience, trying to cajole people into singing along to the African song she herself had playing on her lips. I shyed away from the microphone as she approached me for fear of embarassing myself with my awful singing, but luckily she picked on my friends who stumbled their way through the lines.

After she had made her way through the audience she returned to the stage where she sang with her sister, who also had an equally enviable, soulful, husky voice. It was fun to watch the two sing side by side, bumping their swaying hips together as they sang. As the evening wore on more people got up to dance and the revelries went on into the night. I was quite happy to sit in my comfortable booth, drink in hand, taking in the atmosphere and wishing that I could sing like Rama Brew.

Even if you've never listened to jazz in your life, you couldn't fail to enjoy the jazz club. The music is amazing and you'd be surprised how many songs you'd recognise. There is no cover charge and the lounge is chic and cool so if you're fed up going to the same old places and seeing the same old faces take a chance on jazz, you might just like it.