Esther Bennett‘s performance at Café POSK on Friday night was a total triumph. She’s a well loved vocal master on the London scene, and her contributions are always innovative and thought provoking. Her dedication to her hometown of Birmingham is a particularly endearing hallmark.
This time, Bennett deployed her fine songwriting and propensity to take risks with a tribute to Wayne Shorter. A full house was treated to some of her own lyrics written over Shorter’s tunes – no easy feat to sing – as well as some of her original music.
Bennett is also known for sharing spoken word poetry to music, and she shared some of her mother’s writing as well as some of her own on Friday. She performed her classic bossa version of Janis Ian’s song ‘Seventeen’, and let her stellar band (Tim Lapthorn on piano, Oli Hayhurst on bass, Flavio Li Vigni on drums, and Brandon Allen on saxes) show off throughout. A thoroughly enjoyable gig.
