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She may be a proud New Yorker but at least part of Sari Schorr’s musical heart seems to lie across the pond. A regular on these shores before the pandemic, either headlining or as a support, fortunately 2022 has finally seen a return to Europe – indeed my partner and I unexpectedly caught half of a show while on a weekend in Paris.
The UK leg featured this London date at the Half Moon and there was a decent attendance. However with respect to those who came, the audience was worryingly on the older end of the age spectrum and it left me wondering why even emerging artists cannot seem to attract a younger following.
Her band seems to vary on each show and there was a different rhythm section from the Paris gig in Roger Inniss and Roy Martin without any loss of fluency.
‘Maybe I’m Foolin’ was a fine opening statement of the personable American’s strengths, powerful blues rock, passionately delivered with a fine, melodic solo from guitarist Ash Wilson. ‘Kiss Me’ was more insidious, taking a while longer to reveal its charms, but the set was pleasingly diverse.
While ‘Demolition Man’ was perhaps the closest in the set to old-school Chicago blues, ‘Back To LA’ was something different again, a heartland rocker with Sari’s throaty delivery reminding me very much of Melissa Etheridge. ‘Beautiful’ was a lengthy slow blues, showing that she is far more than just a belter, culminating in a superb solo from Ash, and ‘Turn The Radio On’ had a mid-pocket feel.
However for me the hard hitting blues rockers such as ‘The New Revolution’ and ‘Freedom’ , dedicated to the people of Ukraine where Sari has family, worked the best. Her raunchy voice had the perfect musical complement in Ash’s guitar playing and the intuitive Hammond organ and piano work of one of the masters of that scene. former King King stalwart Bob Fridzema.
Their collective ability to pace a song, mixing and matching power and restraint, meant that the chorus of ‘Damn The Reason’ came over as even more huge, and also perfectly suited the cover of Mott the Hoople/Bad Company’s ‘ReadyFfor Love’.
‘Ordinary Life’ was a complete departure, slow, sultry and soulful, before a return to that favoured rockier sound with ‘King Of Rock n Roll’ and the raunchy ‘Thank You’ with its catchy ‘why don’t you believe’ chorus.
Sari then closed by fusing two of her favourite Leadbelly songs as a snatch of ‘In The Pines’ (better known as ‘How Do You Sleep’) led into ‘Black Betty’. Slow, mournful and stripped back before Ash belatedly let loose, this treatment could not be more different in style than the best known Ram Jam version. There was a solitary encore in ‘Valentina’, a lively rock out with Ash’s solo gathering pace, as he pulled poses in extrovert fashion.
With no new material to promote, it was a set broadly similar to those I saw before the pandemic. For anyone attending for the first time though, it was a perfect showcase for the talents of an artist who really deserves to be much bigger than she is.
Review and Photos by Andy Nathan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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BLACK SONIC PEARLS Black Butterfly (indie)
RENDEZVOUS POINT Don’t Look Up (Long Branch Records)
WILDSTREET Come Down (Golden Robot Records)
Featured Albums w/c 1 April 2024
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12:00-13:00 MYRATH Karma (earMUSIC)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023
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