Review: Laura Mvula, Lichfield Festival
Soulful singer-songwriter Laura Mvula has won a huge following in a short time, with acclaimed concerts at Glastonbury, in New York and on TV shows.
So her appearance at the Lichfield Festival was quite a scoop for the organisers, and last night at the city's cathedral she drew a huge and appreciative crowd.
Mvula has strong links with the festival, appearing in previous programmes as a member of Black Voices and as director of the Lichfield Community Gospel Choir.
When I last saw her in concert, in May at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, there were too many slow-burning, medium tempo pieces and she even seemed to be nervous on stage. What a difference a couple of months has made. Last night she sang with tremendous zest and confidence.
Her reggae-influenced song Is There Anybody Out There? was one of the highlights, and she drew on informal support in the chorus from members of the Lichfield gospel choir who happened to be in the audience.
Earlier Anthony Marsden made a strong impression with jazz standards including Weaver of Dreams and Sophisticated Lady, but his group needed to lock more tightly together rhythmically to be effective.
John Watson
