Gig review: Madelaine Peyroux

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 20:43

QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH ****

IN AN industry where a new batch of over-hyped and over-stylised female singers are presented each month as supposedly "cutting edge," it's refreshing to see a performer with as much integrity as Madeleine Peyroux strut her stuff. The French American plays by her own rules – a tiff with her record company in 1996 saw her take to busking on the streets of France for six years until a private investigator tracked her down – and for 90 minutes, the chanteuse cooed and wooed her merry way through this rare appearance in the capital like a warm knife through butter.

"Booze, blues and ballads" is how the 35-year-old described it. Indeed, a story by WC Fields, about the importance of keeping a bottle of whisky on your person in case you ever wake up in a ditch, provided the inspiration for the tone-setting Bare Bones. Sylvester Stallone's most famous character, Rambo, strangely found his way into one of Peyroux's many groove-laden love songs, and in between two, "token" break-up numbers, she managed to plug the gap between Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell during a section that included some deft melodica sounds.

While the odd jazz cliche reared its head occasionally, there can't be many foreign visitors who are brave enough to admit they "know nothing at all about Edinburgh" and yet are still received like some long-lost cousin. Her style of jazz might appeal mostly to those who listen to jazz in Starbucks; however, when it comes to presentation, delivery and variety, there are few other singers with as much genuine passion for the genre.