Elana Stone recently performed at BMW Edge for the Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival with only the barest of musical accompaniment. This week, the singer appeared as part of the Melbourne Jazz Festival’s “Diva Night” at the Palms at Crown in the company of her full band (Aaron Flower on electric guitar, Zoe Hauptmann on bass and Evan Mannell on drums, with Stone on vocals and piano).
Stone effortlessly transitioned from the intimate, stripped-back setting of the Fringe gig to the larger space at Palms, thanks to the remarkable flexibility of her voice and performance style. She used the venue’s powerful sound system to create a dynamic, almost rock-like feel.
Tuesday’s all-original program was full of distinctive melodies, unusual harmonic shifts and semi-improvised passages where the singer’s wordless vocals echoed – or moved in counterpoint to – the harmonies and rhythms provided by the empathetic members of her band. Judging by the polite but rather subdued applause Stone’s set received, the (mainly older) crowd had expected to hear repertoire drawn from the Great American Songbook.
Read the full review on The Age website.
