Madeleine Peyroux, Royal Festival Hall

24 Nov 2013

Discreetly, but inexorably, Madeleine Peyroux’s career has blossomed in the last decade, delicately poised between the ...

Madeleine Peyroux, Royal Festival Hall

Discreetly, but inexorably, Madeleine Peyroux’s career has blossomed in the last decade, delicately poised between the avant-garde and the mainstream, enjoying the best that both positions can offer. As she has released an ever-wider variety of music, so critics have clutched ever more wildly at comparisons -Billie Holliday used to be the favourite- but none has really stuck. Like one of the greats that she is on her way to becoming, she defines her own style. 

Her sublimely expressive voice, its textured velvet sound an intoxicating blend of melancholy and hurt, is the heart of her achievement. Like all great instruments, it can be deployed in a variety of genres, though the one critical judgement to stick is that like Billie Holliday, Peyroux is defined as a jazz singer but really sings the blues, albeit with a French, Piaf/Gainsbourg twist. 

Her latest album, The Blue Room, further emphasises her breadth. Begun as a tribute to Ray Charles, whose 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music first created the exciting black and white shared space where country, soul, blues and jazz all meet, she has added a modern country flavour, with songs by Randy Newman and John Hartford

Peyroux began as an interpreter of jazz and blues from the 1920s and 1930s, but her repertoire soon spread much more widely, and she now has versions of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Serge Gainsbourg on record, as well as many of her original compositions, also acclaimed. 

Born in America to a family of French descent, she spent many years as a teenager busking in Paris, where she found her musical voice. She sings in French and English, though most of her own compositions are in English. Much of her work has been produced for many years by Larry Klein, also Joni Mitchell’s producer.

Don't miss the chance to witness Peyroux's magic.

TRY CULTURE WHISPER
Receive free tickets & insider tips to unlock the best of London — direct to your inbox

What Madeleine Peyroux, Royal Festival Hall
Where Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX | MAP
When On 24 Nov 13, 7.30pm
Price
Website Click her to book via The Southbank Centre's website/