BY WENDY ZHANG
Frances Madden
Jazz Classics series
The Foundry616, 15 March
On a cold, drizzly night in March, I had the pleasure to listen to jazz singer/pianist Frances Madden perform with her band at Foundry616. It was an enjoyable evening of some wonderful jazz classics as well as some originals, which made me forget about the rain outside as I happily danced along in the warmer world of jazz.
When we arrived at the Foundry 616 (named one of top 200 jazz clubs in the world), it was already packed with people – the tables were full with dining guests, and even the bar area was filled with a small crowd. We waited for a while before the star of the night – Frances Madden – appeared on stage, wearing an elegant LBD (little black dress). The first song was Give Me the Simple Life by Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, and Frances started with a solo on the beautiful Yamaha grand piano, hitting the keys with ease and a sense of style. I rarely see jazz musicians playing on a piano in a band (normally just a keyboard); and I felt wonderful listening to jazz melodies being played on a stylish grand.
The band joined Frances after the piano solo – its original members performing on guitar, bass, drum, saxophone, trumpet, and with two backup singers. Frances then started singing, and her voice was versatile: an innocent timbre to begin, and later sensuous and powerful. I immediately felt the happy vibe of the band’s music, and noticed the surrounding guests were equally immersed in this chilled atmosphere (judging from the smiles on everyone’s faces).
Dancing in the Street was an upbeat and lively song, which had the guests excited and tapping on the feet. Its opening sounded very much like Another Day of Sun from the movie La La Land. Frances provided upbeat tempo and beats on the piano, and her singing was accentuated by the saxophone and trumpet. The band members had great chemistry and played so well together – clearly a result of collaborating for years as a band. I was particularly impressed by Frances’ piano performance: clean and expressive, and mixed well with her vocals.
The second half of the night opened with an original song: Paris Melody. Frances spoke in length about her fascination of Paris and French culture, as she went to Paris with a close friend for the first time a few years ago. This experience became the inspiration for her song, and she even said a few sentences in French to the audience. As soon as she started singing, I felt like I was transported to a smoky jazz bar in Paris (also my favourite city!), watching the Seine River over the window, baguette in hand. Frances’ voice had the rich expressiveness and sweetness, uniquely suited to the type of jazz and blues music she was playing.
An audience favourite of the night seemed to be the popular blues standard Route 66 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. I heard another jazz musician sing this last year at the same venue, but Frances and her band truly sold this to me with their interpretation. It was the combination of the loud and brassy saxophone and trumpet, the piano improv, and Frances’ magnetic voice that had the audience excitedly clap and cheer mid-song. It featured an improvisation section, which gave each instrumentalist a chance to show off their technical skills in their solos. Frances’ piano improvisation was particularly brilliant and, a pianist myself, it inspired me to work on my jazz improv when I returned home.
The audience clearly adored this performance, as they twice asked the performers to come back for encores – Hallelujah, and another original song. As I left the venue to face the real world (wind and rain), I couldn’t stop thinking what a beautiful night we had – great jazz by a smoking hot band and a talented Australian singer/pianist who also happened to write songs.
Images supplied.
