Madeleine Peyroux in Berlin

Singer and songwriter Madeleine Peyroux is currently on tour in Europe, supporting her latest album “Let’s Walk” which came out last summer. Accompanied by two superb collaborators, Jon Herington on guitar and Barak Mori on bass, Madeleine also included several songs from previous albums, dating back to her debut in 1996 with “(Getting Some) Fun Out Of Life”. Her voice still mesmerizing and fully intact, she played around with words and verses, elongating and stretching them, sometimes putting them over, sometimes behind the beat and thus, showcasing her jazz sensibilities in more ways than one. From the new record, she included the hilariously funny “Me And The Mosquito”, the pretty bluesy “Showman Dan”, the very introverted “Nothing Personal”, or the anthemic “Take Care”. Giving enough space to both Jon and Barak, the whole show was especially rewarding in terms of repertoire and suspense. Both of her accompanists were also working background vocal duties, adding to the overall folk/Americana kind of mood.

She also included Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me To The End Of Love” from her second album “Careless Love” and also “Don’t Wait Too Long” from the same LP. I was pretty impressed with her version of another Cohen song, “Half The Perfect World”, the title track of her third album. Here, she was able to cross the bridge from folk to jazz, from pop to country in a pretty impressive way. Joy Clark, a singer, guitarist and songwriter from New Orleans who opened up the show with her vulnerable and intimate songs, came back on stage for a boogie-laden encore of Allen Toussaint’s “Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)”. But going back to the new album, we were also treated to a sweet and lovely version of “Find True Love” and a strong, urgent take on “Please Come On Inside” as well as a Southern-styled “Blues For Heaven”.

There was this special moment when she included “If I Only Had A Brain” to the mix, referring it to the current political climate. And she urged everyone in the audience to stand up for what’s right in this world when she concluded with the title track of her LP, “Let’s Walk”. Madeleine continues her tour, see below, and she returns this summer.

2/10 Hamburg – CCH
2/12 Copenhagen – Konzerthaus
2/14 Antwerpen – De Roma
2/15 Utrecht – TivoliVredenburg
2/16 Haarlem – Phil
2/18 Edinburgh – Usher Hall
2/19 Dublin – National Concert Hall
2/21 Manchester – Band On The Wall
2/22 Saffron – Saffron Hall
2/23 London – Cadogan Hall
2/25 Stroud – Subscription Rooms
6/14 Leverkusen – Bayer Erholungshaus
7/04 Gent – Gent Jazz
7/08 Viennes – Antikes Theater
7/11 Rotterdam – Ahoy
7/134 Aarhus – Musikhuset