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Georgia Mancio: Live At ReVoice!

By Bruce Lindsay
November 29, 2015
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The name at the top of the cover of Live At ReVoice! is that of Georgia Mancio, the London-based vocalist who appears on every one of the 12 tracks. A quick glance lower down the cover adds a dozen more names—a list of Mancio's accompanists that reads like a veritable "Who's Who" of the UK jazz scene. A baker's dozen of talented performers, twelve beautifully performed songs, captured with exceptional sound quality.

Mancio has organised the ReVoice! festival since 2010, in association with the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London's Soho which is also the festival's primary venue (11 of these songs were recorded there, with "Sugar" coming from a 2012 performance at the Union Chapel). As its name suggests, ReVoice! is devoted to the art of the vocalist. It's an art which can be expressed in a seemingly infinite number of ways: vocalists as diverse as

Gregory Porter

vocals
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Gregory Porter, Tuck and Patti,

Vinx

" data-original-title="" title="">Vinx,

Karin Krog

vocals
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Karin Krog and Diane Torto have appeared at the festival.

Live At ReVoice! presents just a few of Mancio's own contributions—she performs an opening set each night of the festival, always with a different collaborator. Having taken a sabbatical from the stresses of festival organisation during 2015 she's brought some of her favorite performances together here, aided by co-producer (and bassist)

Andrew Cleyndert

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Cleyndert.

Mancio is in fine voice on these songs. Her fellow performers prove to be sympathetic, responsive, accompanists approaching each song in ways that complement the vocal. The piano is the most prominent instrument, with seven appearances, but other instruments are by no means outshone by the 88 keys. Michael Janisch's tough, powerful, up-tempo bass drives Mancio forward on a speedy performance of "Just In Time";

Maurizio Minardi

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Maurizio Minardi's accordion adds atmosphere to "Le Strade Di Notte"; Colin Oxley's guitar wraps around Mancio's voice on "The Things We Did Last Summer" like a warm woolly blanket (the singer responds with a whistled interlude).

The exception to the complementary tendency is Robert Mitchell's piano on "Just Friends": a spiky, bop-ish, approach that contrasts with Mancio's smooth, relaxed, voice to create an unexpected tension which resolves as singer and pianist engage in some scat/keyboard interplay.

In a host of fine duo performances, the finest duet is probably Mancio and

Liane Carroll

piano and vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Liane Carroll's reading of Goffin and King's "Going Back." Carroll is a superb vocalist herself, but here it's her piano playing that's to the fore as she crafts perfectly judged lines that match the beauty of the vocal.

Mancio's personal finest moment might just be on Lennon and McCartney's "In My Life," with pianist

James Pearson

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">James Pearson. Like Johnny Cash's heartbreaking version, this is a slow, thoughtful, arrangement—like Carroll, Pearson's spacious playing is beautifully judged. Unlike Cash, Mancio's voice moves noticeably higher on crucial words ("There is no-one compares with you" or "I love you more," for example): it's the matter of moments but it shifts the emotional quality of the lyric from loss and regret to hope and joy.

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Track Listing

Fragile; Sugar; I Do It For Your Love; Bendita; Just In Time; Going Back; The Things We Did Last Summer; Willow Weep For Me; In My Life; Just Friends; Le Strade Di Notte; When I Live My Dream.

Personnel

Georgia Mancio

vocals

Andrew Cleyndert

bass

Jason Rebello

piano

Robert Mitchell

keyboards

James Pearson

piano

Nikki Iles

piano

Colin Oxley

guitar

Maurizio Minardi

piano

Laurence Cottle

bass

Liane Carroll

piano and vocals

Ian Shaw

vocals

Tom Cawley

piano

Georgia Mancio: vocals; Andrew Cleyndert: double bass (1); Laurence Cottle: bass guitar (2); Nikki Iles: piano (3); Tom Cawley: piano (4); Michael Janisch: double bass (5); Liane Carroll: piano (6); Colin Oxley: guitar (7); Jason Rebello: piano (8); James Pearson: piano (9); Robert Mitchell: piano (10); Maurizio Minardi: accordion (11); Ian Shaw: piano (12).

Album information

Title: Live At ReVoice! | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Roomspin Records

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