Gaby Moreno’s London showcase in the lead up to the issue of her new album ‘Dusk’ was organised in conjunction with Jazz FM and their morning show presenter Nigel Williams. The venue was The Pheasantry, a live music and dining space in the basement of Pizza Express on Kings Road in Chelsea. The gig was sold out but with everyone seated at tables and an arc arrangement around the stage area it made for a high-quality experience for the packed house.
Introduced by Williams, Moreno, armed with her acoustic guitar sat down and explained that the bulk of the first set would be taken from the Grammy winning ‘X Mi Vol 1’ EP on which she recreated songs from her previous records as solo acoustic pieces. She said it was funny how she won a Grammy for the easiest record she ever made.
There are three big aspects which are striking about Moreno as a performer. The first is the versatility of her guitar playing, switching between melodic and percussive styles, comfortable across all genres of music and as adept at picking out a lead line as playing an accompaniment. Secondly, she has a phenomenal voice, at times soft and breathy, others husky, another time rock shouting and at any time the ability to hold a note for a length of time you find yourself wondering how she breathes. Finally, there’s her sheer stage presence. Sitting on a chair with a guitar, Moreno commands the room effortlessly. She told us how as a nine-year-old she’d performed at a theatre in Guatemala City and despite initial nerves had rushed off and told her mother this was what she wanted to do with her life; so that’s clearly innate. The songs in the first set were a joy with ‘Fronteras’ and ‘Luna de Xelaju’ particular highlights for me. The final song of the set was a cover of standard ‘Quizas, Quizas, Quizas.’
In the interval Williams returned to the stage for a Q&A with Moreno after which she went backstage for 15 minutes.
Opening the second set, Moreno said she would be featuring songs from ‘Dusk’. But the first part comprised songs from her 2022 album ‘Alegorias’ with ‘Colibri’ a standout. After a lovely ‘¿Por Qué Te Vas?’, the song Moreno wrote reflecting a depressed cat for last year’s ‘Puss In Boots’ movie, she then switched to songs from ‘Dusk’ , just a couple of hours before its release. First up was ‘El Saber’ a song written for and which plays over the closing credits of the movie ‘Radical’, released late 2023 but with European distribution scheduled later in 2024. That led into the funky ‘Ain’t That The Way It Goes’ telling the story of her move from Guatemala to LA. It was followed by ‘New Dawn’ a moving song about moving out from a dark relationship into new hope. Moreno said that ‘Dusk’ was intended to be more of an americana album and that was certainly noticeable in the set closer and first single ‘Solid Ground’.
Williams returned with some closing remarks as applause filled the room. He and we persuaded Moreno to do an encore. Williams suggested a London tune and she finished the night with a powerful cover of David Bowie’s ‘Five Years’. She said she hoped to be back with the band later in the year. And with that we picked up our coats and trekked back up Kings Road to Sloane Square tube basking in the warm memory of a class gig.
The show will be broadcast on Jazz FM in the near future so keep a look out on their website or social media for the heads up.
