Natalie Duncan and Aurelie from Cecille Grey. Photo: Daniel Whiston Photography
Featuring a rotating cast of local musicians centred around Natalie Duncan’s exceptional talents, the night opened with Ed Bannard from Hhymn. Duetting on a rather ethereal and haunting folk song called Sancturary, a little like early Elbow, that had been written especially for the night by John Sampson from Swimming and backed-up by the vocal stylings of the G.O.A choir, it was a magical way to start.
Cecille Grey were up next for a couple of songs, while members of the band would come and go as the night progressed almost acting a house band for the other performances. The Night You Left was a particularly gorgeous moment with Natalie and Aurelie from Cecille Grey singing alternate lines; it was the first - but not the last - hairs standing on the back of the neck moment of the night.
Natalie was then joined by Debris Stevenson the founder of The Mouthy Poets for a sumptuous run through a poem called Sleeping and Patterns. It was a really lovely and rather unexpected moment, and it is collaborations like this one that made the evening something special.
Rob Green is a born natural performer and leaping up on stage his easy going presence visibly helped Natalie to relax. A showman, he was clearly having the time of his life leading Natalie and band through a couple of his own tunes, including a rousing Power. Rob looked totally at home up on the The Space’s stage and this was obviously a marriage made in soul music heaven. If anything comes of tonight it has to be that these two team up again.
Up next was Jade Bowman, a popular and well-known guitarist in these parts who has performed with an array of local musicians and is currently doing his thing with The Golden Troubadours and Bowman and Hull. They were also accompanied by the G.O.A Choir on a gospel rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water with Jade’s guitar adding slick flourishes.
It’s probably worth noting at this point that there was a four-piece string section led by the night’s musical arranger Rob Rosa of Maniere des Bohemiens and, like Cecille Grey’s rhythm section, they came and went throughout the night, breathing life in to the songs when called upon.
After a fifteen minute interval the second half started with YouthOracle taking everyone on stage through an intense version of his Hellectricity track. It saw YouthOracle spitting bar after bar like a man possessed while the orchestra took the rap rocketship to the stars. It was a total belter of a performance and a killer way to kick-start the show back in to life.
There’s really only one artist brave enough to follow a performance like that, and that is Nina Smith. Seated behind a keyboard that had been set-up on the stage alongside Natalie’s, she performed one of her own tracks, a rather lovely, melodic balled called Dressed In Lies. The broad smile painted across Nina's face at the end said it all really.
Following Nina, the suited and booted Chris McDonald joined Natalie for a couple of songs including one they wrote together called Closer. Chris’ voice is remarkable, flowing high above the audience like liquid velvet. You could feel the shivers going down your spine as the two sang together and it was obvious that there is a lot of mutual respect and admiration between the pair. Aurelie made a return to the stage for the lush Sing Your Praises, the three intertwining voices sounding elegant and sumptuous to these ears. The pace may have dipped a little bit by this point of the evening, but it didn't matter when we were being treated to songs this beautiful.
It was only right that Natalie got the opportunity to perform a couple of her own songs, and as she did, it was a stark reminder of what an exceptional talent she is. Her voice is rich with emotion and is so big and powerful you feel it could turn mountains in to piles of rubble.
The night ended with Origin One taking to the stage represented by Kev conjuring up the beats and the always charming and dapper Bru-C on rap duties. Good vibes abounded as they took Natalie on a reggae trip and urged the sold-out crowd to get bouncing. Eventually, most of the night’s performers got back on stage, dancing, singing and taking their final bows with obvious delight.
The night showed that Nottingham’s music scene is rich, diverse, and full of talented people who can pull off remarkable things when working together. Give yourselves a slap on the back.
Natalie Duncan and Friends performed in The Space at Nottingham Contemporary on Friday 14 November 2014.
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