Judith Hill - Jazz Café, London 21/10/2021

In the heart of London, Camden Town remains very much as it was when I first visited nearly forty years ago. On this particular late October evening, the numerous restaurants, coffee shops and pubs selling £6 pints of craft beer team with people while the many stores offering piercings, tattoos and a seemingly endless range of t-shirts are slowly pulling down their heavily graffitied shutters. Various attempts to gentrify, or at least tidy up the area, have been partially successful in recent years but to be honest, Camden has hardly changed, and whispered offers to partake of a plant-based pharmaceutical are still a feature of the crowded street experience. Luckily, unlike central London just down the road, Camden still has plenty of live music venues and this evening, I'm visiting an imposing former Barclays Bank building that has been the home of the Jazz Cafe since 1990. A staple of the Camden scene, Adele, Amy Winehouse and Bobby Womack head a long list of name artists to have played here and Judith Hill is joining that illustrious list on the sole UK date of her European tour.

The Jazz Café is on two levels, the restaurant on the upper mezzanine level offering good views of the artists and a more upscale experience with steak and a range of vegan options on the varied menu. Needless to say, I join the crowd on the floor by way of the bar (the beer is actually cheaper than the pub down the road). The venue is crowded, and there’s a feeling of anticipation in the air as Judith Hill’s recently released third album ‘Baby, I’m Hollywood!’ is a terrific mix of funk and soul with an occasionally marked Prince influence, hardly surprising as the legendary artist had previously produced Hill’s debut record and they remained close until his untimely passing.  I’ve always been a great believer in the idea that talent is attracted to talent. This certainly seems to be the case with Judith Hill as she has recorded and/or toured with many leading artists and was featured in the excellent ‘20 Feet from stardom’ documentary. Other notable inclusions on her resume include a run on TV reality show The Voice and being chosen as Michael Jackson’s duet partner for the planned series of shows at London's O2 cancelled upon his death.

Judith and her three-piece band hit the stage hard, the sound is bigger, louder and funkier than I was expecting, but I'm not complaining. There's plenty of bottom end thanks to bassist Robert Hill (Billy Preston/Thelma Houston) and drummer Chaun Dupre Horton laying down a solid groove for the likes of ‘Gypsy Lover’ and ‘You Got The Right Thang’.  Rounding out the band is Michiko Hill (Thunderflash/Wayne Shorter) teasing a seemingly endless array of sounds from her two keyboard setup adding piano, synth and some lovely organ flourishes as we go deeper into the set. It’s so great to see the family touring together (Robert and Michiko are Judith's parents) and apparent that Judith has been surrounded by music literally from birth. Needless to say, when your band has a background in funk, soul and jazz there is plenty of room to stretch out here and there musically to complement the studio recordings. Judith handles all of the guitar parts with aplomb while still hitting all the vocal notes and, unlike a lot of singers, isn’t afraid to go for it, which is refreshing to hear in these days of autotune. One of the people I was with remarked, “It’s like being back in 1975, but with great sound”, and I'm inclined to agree.

Judith and her band began to switch things up after the funky beginning injecting some soul into proceedings. Judith switched to piano for ‘When My World Is Blue’ and a quite gorgeous ‘Silence’ while an absolutely show-stopping ‘Give Your Love To Someone Else’ proved to be a vocal tour-de-force and, by this point in the set, Judith could do no wrong.  The singer continued to mine the ‘Baby, I’m Hollywood’ record with excellent renditions of the title track, a pounding ‘Americana’ and ‘God Bless The Mechanic’ stripped of some of its Prince influenced studio polish seemed to become even funkier.

Judith left the stage after a generous ninety-five minute set with a massive smile and she wasn't the only one.  An artist with talent to burn, who really should be destined for big things if there’s any justice in the world.  So, all I can really say is if she comes to your town, or your country for that matter, just go and thank me later for the recommendation.