It was almost like Amy was there…!
Talentbanq at The Bedford, 26th September, 2019.
Georgia and the Vintage Youth, supported by Honey Mooncie and Joncan Kavlakoglu
A message came through. It was my very own musical “Indiana Jones,” Neil March, with the simple instruction “drop everything, meet me at The Bedford, prepare to be amazed!”
Not one given to superfluous exaggeration, our Neil, I sensed we could be in for a good night! So, grabbing iphone and flatmate, I headed south.
The Bedford is one of those buildings that just exudes a sense of friendly invitation. You can see it from the exit of the Underground Station.
But if the façade is easy on the eye, as a music venue it is out of this world — as this exquisitely proportioned space….
… becomes this Aladdin’s Cave, a veritable Treasure Trove of Talent…
Three Acts were on offer, courtesy of Café Nero Founder Paul “Pablo” Ettinger and his business partner Ray Jones, and their new entrepreneurial adventure, Talentbanq.
Talentbanq is a dynamic new Artists’ Agency, dedicated to the discovery and nurture of new musical talent. In the Opera World, where I originally hail from, this is very much the norm. But at the Pop-end of the spectrum, an agency declaring itself both aware of — and willing to be responsible-for — that critical period of nurture, at the beginning of an Artist’s career, when they’re generating hardly anything in terms of commissionable income for the agency, yet ‘costing’ a great deal in terms of care and attention, is almost unheard-of.
Far more common is the spectre of impatient impresarios, and gluttonous Record Labels, willing to chew up and spit out a succession of young hopefuls, who were never given the time to find out that the way to build a career in the Music Industry is to exercise prudence when choosing between the opportunities that come along. In other words, you increase your chances of both surviving and thriving in this cruel artistic environment, if you use the word “No,” NOT — as so many mistakenly assume, “Yes..”
So, to hear that — thanks to the astute and consummately professional Ettinger and his colleagues — some of the common sense that has guided Opera Artists’ Management for over two centuries, had finally made it into the Pop Industry, was indeed reassuring. But given Café Nero’s highly-publicised ethical and sustainable business philosophy, it was hardly surprising that Ettinger would wish to apply a similarly responsible approach here, especially when dealing with that most precious of commodities: human talent.
The Headline band, Georgia and the Vintage Youth were obviously old hands at this, and more on their fabulous extended set a little later. They were supported by two exciting solo Artists, vocalist Honey Mooncie and Acoustic Guitarist Joncan Kavlakoglu.
As she was introduced, it was announced that Elton John’s management company, Rocket Music, had just signed Honey.
“So…” I resolved, hell-bent on making this “Indiana Jones” metaphor work, even if it killed me…
“…It was clear that what we had before us were not worthless bits of quartz rock-and-roll, at all. These were real gems! Precious… rolling… stones…!”
Neil introduced me to the charming Ettinger. And like awe-struck bounty-hunters crowding around a freshly-unearthed and priceless piece of treasure, the warm colours from the stage lights glinting in our eyes — gold and emerald and ruby — we leant inwards ready for the show to begin.
First up was Turkish Guitarist Joncan Kavlakoglu. There’s an old “rule,” when it comes to performance — certainly it was drummed into me, as a student at the Royal Academy of Music. And that’s “perform first, speak after.”
And Joncan VERY NEARLY came a cropper, were it not for the INCREDIBLE way he plays the guitar.
Rather than launching straight into the first piece, he chose to “introduce” his instrument — something launching straight into the first piece would have done perfectly well.
A fog of awkward confusion began to drift across the room, as he seemed to suggest his relationship with his instrument somehow verged on the sexual (“instrucest..?!”).
However, when he finally hit the strings, it was like a bolt of electricity!
My God, can this guy play the guitar! And I MEAN can this guy play the guitar! Every square millimetre of it — even the bits you’d never imagine you COULD play!
And the energy and vitality of his performance and stage-presence blew me away. In fact, of the several photos I took, the one above is the only one in which I managed to capture a focused image.
The rest are like this — the whirling dervish blur of a magnificent musical magician:
Anyone who’s seen the Netflix masterpiece “The OA,” and the scene in which Hap meets the guitarist Renata in Cuba, will know what I mean when I say there’s something about the guitar that goes to the very core of our being. A guitar can “say” things no other instrument can say — not even the human voice.
The guitar is notoriously difficult to really master. You don’t have a direct sight-line to your fingers — either those on the fret board or those strumming across the hole that allows the resonating sound to be projected. You could angle the instrument towards you to get a better view, but it’s not actually designed to be played like that, and those who do look pretty pathetic.
So playing the guitar is a sensory experience — it’s all about the sense of touch, and the extent to which you feel able to trust that sense without needing the reassurance of a sight-line. So the best guitarists tend to be those who are the most intuitive, which means that as a general rule, they are also spectacular musicians.
And Joncan was all the above, and more. I’d even go so far as to say that for me, his was the standout performance of the night, simply because I’d never EVER seen anyone play a guitar so imaginatively, with such gusto, and not miss a single note. I guarantee you! His set ended with us happily forgiving him his toe-curling introduction. Remember — “perform first, speak after!”
Next up was Honey Mooncie, and yes — you’re right, that is Joncan playing bass guitar. It’s the sign of a great Artist if they’re comfortable enough in their own skin and don’t need to constantly be the centre of attention, so that they’re willing and able to generously subjugate their own artistic ego, and allow another to take centre-stage. He slid right back, handing over to Honey, and it was another sign of style and musicianship that Joncan was as equally sensitive to Honey, as he was to his colleague on Lead Guitar.
From Honey’s bits of info between songs, I gathered this band had only just been put together, possibly an initiative emanating from her signing to Elton John’s Rocket label and management company. What was clear was these guys knew what they were about, and the sense of ensemble between the two guitarists especially was perfectly balanced.
Honey has a beguiling voice, that immediately made me think of Harriet Wheeler, of The Sundays. But what also struck me, both with Honey and later Georgia, was that both girls appeared to be direct descendants of the Amy Winehouse vocal dynasty: their phrasing, the way they used just their lips to darken ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ sounds, as opposed to darkening vowels by creating space further back and up, using their whole mouth, tongue and jaw, as well as nasal and eye cavities, where pockets of dark resonance dwell. As a result, although the timbre is darkened, the vocal tone stays bright and forward, and sounds almost as though they could physically “chew” their voices — classic Winehouse.
Honey is a more experienced performer than the raw and captivating Hollie Findlay, who I saw a couple of weeks ago at Neil’s “Vanishing Point” gig in South London. Honey knows, as a vocalist, how to let the microphone do the work, something Hollie is still in the process of finding out. Honey also knows that to sing softly is to sing “powerfully.” By that I mean singing softly often has a greater impact on an audience, causing them to lean towards the Artist, creating a more intense sense of intimacy during the performance.
However, this knowledge and insight, learnt through performance experience, brings with it some inherent risks and unintended consequences. For as you begin to discover how to vary the volume at which you’re singing, and the effect that has on your listeners, as well as how to relax and let the microphone do the work — there’s a tipping point at which you begin to relax too much, and start to lose some vital performance components, such as diction. And I’m afraid to say that Honey had fallen into that trap. And as a result, as delightful as her performance was overall, I hardly understood a word she sang.
Not so the evening’s headliner, Georgia and the Vintage Youth…. I got every syllable!!
This lady knows her trade, and is the perfect example of someone I’d think of as an industry survivor. The material, while for the most part original, was not exactly ground-breaking, but to be honest, I didn’t care! She — and they — were a joy to watch! There’s nothing quite like a bunch of musicians who genuinely look as though they like each other, genuinely look as though they enjoy playing with each other, and genuinely look as though — at least for this night — they wouldn’t have it any other way!
Each band member has a distinct personality, that has been incorporated into the act. Even the fact the bass player appears to be quite a shy lad, is seized upon and forms one end of Georgia’s performance environment, with Saxophonist “Crazy Marco” (who turned out to be Italian, so perhaps that should be “Pazzo Marco!”) at the opposite end of the spectrum.
As for the Lady herself, she’s an Old Skool class act, with songs that reveal a complete and credible artistic personality: sassy, sensitive, fragile, tenacious, indomitable, precious.
Extract the DNA of Lisa Minelli, Bette Midler and Lady Gaga, add a spoonful of Christine McVie, a dash of Janis Joplin, a sprig of Barbara Dickson, chill and serve with clotted cream and Tequila — THAT is Georgia and the Vintage Youth!
Classicalbanksy
