In the
cultural reshaping of Canada’s fastest growing city Calgary, Alberta the
Beat Niq jazz club on January 20, once again proved to be a key
player in that cultural evolution. excellent jazz vocalist Adi Braun from
Toronto took to the stage, and performed two sets consisting of original
compositions and standards. Her repertoire highlighted the contributions
made to the music industry by some of Canada’s foremost songwriters.
Braun’s curly auburn hair barely touched the shoulders of her long black and teal evening gown while a butterfly pendant hung from a silver chain around her neck. She worked the Beat Niq’s intimate stage as though it were an old friend. At several junctures during her performance, the appreciative audience broke into spontaneous applause.
Braun opened her first set with Richard Rogers’ “The Lady Is A Tramp.” She then paid tribute to Doris Day and Lena Horne. Her nod to the stars from yesteryear came in the form of “Perhaps,” and “Love Me Or Leave Me”. She introduced the later song with some great scatting before diving into a sultry vocal performance. Bassist Simon Fisk also figured prominently in this piece.
The singer proved her versatility as an artist moving easily between the moody “Rules Of The Game,” (from the CD of the same name) to the cabaret lilt of “Frim Fram Sauce.” Drummer John May used a muted tone hand percussion to accompany Braun as she sung “Frim Fram Sauce.”
Braun is much more than a chanteuse she is a complete entertainer. She completely immerses herself in the personality, colors and context of the beautiful phrases that she interprets. Pianist Sheldon Zandboer provided equally sensitive chops. Zandboer a native Calgarian, and regular performer at the Beat Niq, should be in a much larger market to receive the notoriety that he deserves.
The singer unveiled her reading of Canadian songwriter Shirley Eikhard’s “If We Had Never Met”. The beautiful love ballad from Braun’s CD Rules Of The Game may have been her best performance of the evening. Eikhard’s song is full of romantic phrases such as “who would make me laugh if we had never met”. Eikhard was the songwriter behind Bonnie Raitt’s “Something To Talk About”.
Braun’s second set featured standards such as Cy Coleman’s “Witchcraft”, a nod to Duke Ellington’s “I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good” and “Old Devil Moon”.
Publicity Photo By: Johnny Eisen ©
January 20, 2007
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