REVIEW: Ruth Royall and The Berlin Connection at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud

Lansdown Hall, Stroud

RUTH Royall’s homecoming gig on April 28 with the Berlin Connection at the Lansdown Hall in Stroud was a splendid affair that made a large hall feel as intimate as a smoky beer cellar.

The Berlin Connection are Lionel Haas on keyboards, drummer Jerome Bonaparte and Or Rosenfeld on bass; three musicians Ruth met and hit it off with whilst gigging in Berlin.

They gel beautifully as a band, welcoming Bristol saxophonist Nick Robinson and backing vocalist Ranoah into their sound.

In the opening half of the gig Ruth and the band reworked jazz standards, giving them new and surprising life - for example, ‘Night in Tunisia’ announced itself from under a radical rearrangement, leaving me feeling as if it was the first time I’d heard the tune.

The glue that binds the set, though, is Ruth’s own songs, which more than hold their own against the reinvented covers.

Take ‘Love’, a jazzy version of a track from Ruth’s forthcoming debut EP, where the band strip back their meaty sound so that the depth of their ability to listen to one another becomes ever clearer, and Ruth’s voice and lyrics glide into total focus.

It’s a powerful song, with pertinent political lyrics and a gobsmacking close to the first half leading to an explosion of applause.

Confidence buoyed by the huge audience response at the interval, Ruth and the band launch ecstatically into the second half. The highlight, for me, was the extraordinary sped up version of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine When He’s Gone’, full of frenetic Mingus rhythms and zippy piano riffs.

At their best, be it with covers or originals, Ruth and the band sound like they’ve sprung fully formed from a Soul Jazz compilation album, with Ruth’s soaring pitch perfect voice balanced beautifully against the subtle tones of Ranoah (more Ruth’s accomplice than backing singer) and the smooth tones of Nick Robinson’s sax, occasionally leaping out into frenzied lyricism.

They close with ‘Let This Ride’, a euphoric song and the arresting encore ‘Mercy’, a potent ballad of Ruth’s that starts with piano and voice before the whole band wind their way in, building to a glorious crescendo, with all the audience singing “I need your mercy” as the band phase in and out, before sliding back to bring the night to a rapturous close.

9/10

Review by Adam Horovitz