A Centenary Celebration of Ella Fitzgerald

A Centenary Celebration of Ella Fitzgerald
Alison Jiear. Sydney Cabaret Festival. Seymour Centre, Sydney. July 12/13, 2019

The Australian singer Alison Jiear has lived in Britain for over 30 years and has made a splash there in musicals like Jerry Springer: The Opera and a particularly rousing appearance on Britain’s Got Talent. She’s also a remarkable cabaret performer and commands the stage, here in a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.

Taking on the legacy of one of the 20th century’s greatest jazz and popular singers is a huge task that few would take on. But as soon as she takes the stage, Jiear shows she’s got the presence, remarkable voice and technical skills required. She doesn’t put a note wrong and even launches into Fitzgerald’s scat singing from the first song. With her adorable personality and slightly wicked sense of humour, Jiear’s cabaret pops.

There are so many Fitzgerald standards to choose from. Here, we get “How High the Moon”, “A Tisket A Tasket” and “That ‘Ol Black Magic” rather than “Bewitched” or “Blue Skies”. She polishes them off but it’s with the likes of “Embraceable You” and when she actually veers away from Fitzgerald that Jiear soars.

Performers seldom take requests and and even more rarely ask for them. When Jiear does so, she earns the biggest cheers of the night. She sings five or six requests a cappella - including her song in Jerry Springer, “I Just Wanna Dance”, numbers she performed as a member of The Fabulous Singlettes, and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” - and brings down the house. She also nails a beautiful rendition of “Gravity” by Sarah Bareilles.

Jiear weaves all these songs together with some stories about Ella Fitzgerald’s life and some of the parallels with her own (they both sang television commercials, which provide some of the show’s funniest moments). This loose narrative helps make the show complete. And of course the brilliant four-piece band, led by the fine pianist and musical director Kevin Hunt.

Alison Jiear is well and truly settled in the UK but says it gets more difficult to leave her Australian home every time she returns. It would be Australia’s win if she one day decided to stay. She’s not as well known as she should be and exceeds the high hopes that one has for a show like this.

Peter Gotting

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