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This charming US singer-pianist is halfway through a "nooks and crannies tour" of Britain with two reliable London pros, guitarist Dave Cliff and bassist Andy Cleyndert.
She was in relaxed form last night, singing sweetly in a style somewhere between Blossom Dearie and Sheila Jordan. Her laidback phrasing, framed by nimbly forceful keyboard work, had listeners queuing for signed albums at intermission time.
New Orleans, post-Katrina, inspired that album but the Cole Porter classic, You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To, reminded her that New York seemed to be unravelling in her absence. "First our governor turns witness for the prostitution," she said, "then a massive crane crashes in 49th Street, only two blocks from where I live. Luckily it missed the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, which houses Porter's piano and helps pay my bills".
Guided by a good ear for atmospheric songs, she included Porter's I Concentrate on You, a waltz for the legendary Harlem tap-dancer Mr Bojangles, and Ill Wind, a dreamlike Harold Arlen melody that invites airy improvisation. Two of her best vocals, Witchcraft and Angel Eyes, came when she left the piano and sang to Cliff's guitar. She's a gentle talent and a class act.