Music and Musicals                                     By Cathrine Summers                          Malt Supperclub                                  February 12

The jazz performers I’ve been privileged to witness during the Perth Fringe Festival have been technical virtuosos, but none have had the audience lapping up everything from the palm of their hand like the impossibly charismatic Cathrine Summers.

The set consisted of the classics and contemporary numbers, the wistfulness was kept to a minimum, and the breezy and occasionally lascivious atmosphere permeated.

Summers set the tone for the whole night immediately with the 1927 song, ‘The Best Things in Life Are Free’, “or $28.50″, Summers would add under her breath, with a wink. The five man band around her would complement and dance with Summers’ sultry and poppy vocals until one man from the band, be it the drummer or sax player, could no longer contain their energy and would explode with a riveting and soaring solo; for that minute or two during the various solos, Malt Supperclub was theirs.

A personal favourite of mine was Summers’ cover of Edith Piaf’s deceptively cheerful ‘Milord’. She imbued the cover with the right balance of sadness and hopeful longing, proving at that point there was more to her than just pure fun. I only wish more of the songs were sung in French. Not that I speak French, but there is no other language I can think of that’s better suited to pop-jazz music. Personal preferences aside, the Englishwoman Summers sings in French fluently, evoking something quintessentially beautiful.

Less successful were covers of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’ and Beyonce’s ‘Crazy in Love’. I couldn’t help but feel as if the songs were mandated by a higher up – being that this was advertised as a Gatsby type event; the energy and charisma wasn’t quite there. Particularly confusing was the joyous inflection, yet very low key vocals she infused ‘Young and Beautiful’ with; it struck me as an odd choice, though certainly it wasn’t unpleasant to hear.

However, this was merely a five minute blip in a three hour set that was by all accounts enjoyable and moving. Summers succeeded not merely as a bravura artist but as one hell of an entertainer.

European Summers Cotton Club ran for one night only, but you can check out the rest of the Fringe World guide here.