JAZAMIN SINCLAIR@The Nerve Centre. September 2rd 2010.
On an unassuming sunny afternoon, JAZAMIN SINCLAIR arrived fashionably late at Renshaw Street’s The Nerve Centre for her acoustic set. After an impressively quick set up and introduction possible only with an acoustic set, she opened up her performance with the self-penned Old Time, a short and sweet song that was met with much approval from the sympathetic audience. Following the applause she moved onto a cover of Beth Orton’s Stolen Car, which captured the feel of the original but was still recognizably different enough to work well in its eyes shut sing-along-ability. Next came a shift change with a cover of the ubiquitous anthem to either granny grabbing or punching, Take Your Mama Out, which had no such implication with Sinclair’s acoustic take on the song which raised more than a few smiles in the crowd.
Such a number of covers in a set could be seen as a concession to originality to some eyes, but a later chat to Sinclair and a check of her artist page is proof enough that she has many songs in her proverbial artillery. Following some sound issues amiably dealt with by Sinclair and a quick audience hearing check, it was back to business as usual with a cover of a song that some may know called Spaceman. Sinclair’s clear voice and excellent guitar was more than a match for the original, and the feeling in her performance was as evident as in 4 None Blondes’ original. As mentioned before, the set was primarily covers of other artists songs, but Sinclair never sold herself short, and the set’s brevity was disappointing as I could quite easily have sat through many more songs, be they covers or not, which is not something one can say often at a live show.
The fact she chose to perform songs from the singer-songwriter genre is definitely in her favor as these songs are usually well written, timeless and above all very good. Her version of Big Yellow Taxi was particularly good and had many, including this reviewer, ready for more. Its theme was also appropriate, perhaps unintentionally, as there were calls for a cleaner greener Earth posted just behind her, appropriately right next to her paintings which makes a very good backdrop to her music. For those who have not come across Sinclair before, you should go down and see her when you get a chance. This was her first solo show in a while, and despite her apologies after the show for the sound problems, there really was no need as the songs she chose, including an interesting cover of Skunk Anansie’s Pickin’ On Me, all spoke for themselves. The only complaint would be that more originals would have made a good show even better than it was. Simplicity is rare thing these days, and Sinclair’s acoustic performance was most definitely an example of the beauty of simplicity in music and performance.
Review and Photo: Sebastian Gahan.
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