Southern Beauty is a collective of musicians founded by Alison Wheeler, the third in a line up of lead singers from the multi-million selling band The Beautiful South. Just as she has cleverly switched the name of the band around for this new project, so too does the band switch the much loved back catalogue of Beautiful South songs round by giving them a jazz twist. A delightfully simple concept that creates a beautiful (if not southern) night of entertainment.
The band is made up of Phil Southgate (keyboard), Phillipa Leigh (ukulele and vocals), James Harrison (drums) & Matt Gornicki (bass). In their hands T
he Beautiful South back catalogue turns out to be surprisingly flexible. Perfect 10 turned into a swaggering country knees up, Rotterdam was a complex little triple rhythm cabaret number, and The Beautiful South's first single I LoveYou Like My Pencil Case was delivered with sweet, swinging charm.
Wheeler's voice is enchanting. It’s smooth as silk and lazes just behind the beat in a way which makes her feel totally relaxed and at ease. She reminded me of the great jazz chanteuses of old, and in fact she included several jazz standards in her set including It Had To Be You, The Lady Is a Tramp and Don’t Get Around Much Anymore. A highlight of the night was when she brought these two worlds sparklingly together, singing Don’t Marry Her Have Me in a setting which ingeniously highlighted the melodic similarities with Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
All in all, a fantastic night of relaxed music with a proficient and affable singer who created a quick and affectionate rapport with her happy audience. This is their second appearance at the Watford fringe festival and if the audience reaction was anything to go by we can be fairly certain there’ll be a third and many more to come.
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