The Stone Combo

Usher Hall 12/1/26

Emerging Artists Concert

Supported by Live Music Now Scotland, the Usher Hall and the Kimie Trust

I was unable to review today’s Emerging Artists Concert because of illness, and was intrigued to get a text from a friend at 11.55, ‘It’s packed out here’.  She elaborated in an email later. This was her account.

Anne Donnelly wrote:

It was a sell-out! The information sheets with details of the performers and their programme had run out. However as things got underway, this didn’t matter. The Stone Combo – double bass (Cameron Duff), electric guitar (Calum Steel) and the absolutely fabulous voice of Charlotte Stuart – were just great.

There were numbers that I recognised but could not name and numbers that I could. However, rather than feeling that one was simply getting a programme from the Great American Songbook, all felt new and refreshing, especially Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’, which bore no relationship to most of the versions I’ve heard over the years.

Charlotte Stuart’s fabulous voice was definitely the star of the show, with its timbre varying considerably over the 45 minutes of the performance from a traditionally jazzy huskiness to a wonderfully and perfectly controlled, soft and radiant soprano. Indeed it was hard to believe it was all contained within the voice-box of one woman. Her stage craft too was polished, very stylish, and, surprisingly for an 11 am concert, rather sexy too . She looked just fab! It made me appreciate all the very hard work and musical skill it takes to achieve such easy listening.

The rather strange pinky-mauve lighting in the background that was the main auditorium produced a night club vibe that to this audience member felt luscious, languid and very classy