Madeleine Peyroux

Sometimes too much value is placed on song-writing. Granted there’s nothing quite like the view into the writer’s soul you get when you hear a deftly written song, but many people seem to dismiss artists out of hand simply because they don’t write their own songs. It’s almost as if the music of any old bunch of clowns with electric guitars just means more than everything else because it “comes from the heart”, even when it clearly doesn’t. What these people don’t realize is that the skill and insight needed for an artist to truly embody and inhabit a song, whether or not it was originally written by them, vastly outweighs the skill needed to string three chords together and rhyme “maybe” with “baby”. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Jazz, where a lot of the great voices of the genre weren’t songwriters in their own right but it never really mattered. In the last ten years few names have emerged that truly rivalled the greats but one in particular could quite possibly join them, and that name is Madeleine Peyroux. Nowhere is how adept she is at interpretation more apparent than in her live performances. Songs by artists as diverse as Hank Williams, Elliot Smith and Randy Newman are all made her own with style and authority. Her voice, understated but clear as a bell, expresses more in a syllable than most vocalists can muster in an entire set. This is music that doesn’t need to shout to make itself known. In all, it’s quiet music. Quietly confident, quietly captivating, and quietly beautiful. A true must see.

Madeleine Peyroux’s voice is something really quite unique. Her Ronnie Scott’s show last year was, I think, the ideal place to catch her live, the intimacy of a club being favourable to the warmth and subtlety of her singing and arrangements. She had with her a rhythm section consisting of Jim Beard on piano and keyboard, Jon Herington on guitar, Barak Mori on double bass, and Jay Bellerose on drums, augmented by a string section led by Sylvia D’Avanzo. The band were absolutely impeccable, responsive, buoyant as Peyroux led them through some of her originals such as Don’t Wait Too Long as well as old classics by Leonard Cohen (Bird On The Wire, Dance Me To The End Of Love) and Ray Charles (Gentle On My Mind, I Can’t Stop Loving You). One of the most enjoyable things about her repertoire is the reworking and rearranging of many of these old songs - you feel like she strips them down to their very essence and then allows them to become something new and different. In an aside to the audience she quips that she has “three types of songs: love songs, blues songs, and drinking songs”. Although she’s self-deprecating, she has the audience’s full attention at all times, there’s no doubt at all that she’s a singer of rare talent, seasoned by many years of busking and leading a group of absolute top-notch jazz players. Definitely one for fans of Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen.

Gesanglich, wie immer ein Genuss. Sie ist eine Meisterin der leisen Töne mit
tollen Texten. Fantastische Musiker. Mehr Band braucht man nicht.
Doch ästhetisch war sie wirklich eine Enttäuschung; es herrschte eine unangenehme Diskrepanz zwischen ihr und den anderen beiden Musikern. Sie wirkte müde, traurig und abgekämpft. Zwischen den Liedern änderte sich ihre Mimik, als wäre sie nicht gerne da.
Eine tolle Sängerin aber sicherlich nicht ihre beste Darbietung.

Madeleine's concert under the live oak trees in the quad at the College of Charleston was all I'd hoped for and really lovely. I've been a fan for a while so was very happy to see she was playing this year at Spoleto. It was a great 90 minute set with a nice selection of songs from her albums and new selections I liked. The bass player and the guitarist were fantastic in their own right. Good show.

The band was excellent and Madeleine clearly enjoyed herself. As for our appreciation of her singing we preferred the second set, where she took her guitar and gave us a more personal voice with less mannerism. We really loved the sound created at Musis Sacrum; the technician(s) and the hall are a perfect match. Overall experience: a surprising concert.

Sadly, my friend had an accident and could not come with and drive me, to see Madeleine Peyroux at St George’s, Bristol. I was devastated, as I have been a huge fan of her’s for about ten years now. I am sure she was amazing and I will definitely get to see her next time she is in England. X

Grande show! Madeleine é afinadíssima e possante. Além disso é uma ótima entretainer. A banda é super competente (músicos de jazz são os melhores). Os arranjos são ótimos e ela toca duas canções da Bossa Nova que arrepiam!

Beautiful concert.
Madeleine Peyroux adress the audience in Portuguese (!) and that's something.
The concert gave us new and old songs, two Cohens and an excellent solo pot-pourri.
It ends with a Smile.

Super Experience!
Madeleine is full of charme and humor... plus she has a wonderful voice!
And the place is perfect for this kind of show...
Thank YOU, Madeleine!
Respect Porgy & Bess, Viena!

Absolutely magic! Total oblivion for everything except the music for the entire concert. Great musicians who had a wonderful time and infected the audience with their enthusiasm. Go and see!