Kyla Brox - Hebden Bridge Blues Festival 2013
Kyla Brox hails from not far from Hebden - her reputation got there a long time before she did and she was welcomed to the Hebden Bridge Festival Family with wide and rapturous open arms. Oh Lord, did she give back in plenty! This was a spell-binding set. Surrounded by a group of faultless musicians who were totally immersed, committed and involved in every number; absolutely top-rate arrangements with beautiful spacy solos - it's called 'leaning-in' - as if you didn't know - Kyla's vocals became the glittering diamond dead centre stage. She Put A Spell On You from the moment that first Blue Note emerged. Kyla is an authentic soul and blues singer with a tremendous pedigree, coming from a musical family and singing from a very early age. She also plays a number of instruments and her wistful and haunting flute played an important role in her set often during numbers where the brilliant Tony Marshall on sax rolled smooth Mulligan style riffs and solos around the perfect sound chamber of the chapel.
When Kyla moved into pure soul mode a Breathless Hush descended on the place. The way she moves her hands and her body when singing numbers like the famous Etta James 'At Last' and the Nina Simone sensual 'Do I Move You' is totally at one with the mood and 'yes' was the rapturous shout when she got to 'and the answer had better be Yes'. This set brought Fine Art to the Festival stage and it was right and proper that it finished with a bang...or rather a 'Wang Dang Doodle'....and a standing ovation. A Master Class.
