Mz Chawls If You're Good

Whenever I see Tanika Charles, usually at The Big Sound Motown Revue, she always looks like she just stepped out of the golden age of Jazz a la Ella Fitzgerald and Mae West. So Wednesday night, I finally got my chance to hear her sing her own material at The Rivoli as Tanika Charles and The Wonderfuls.

With cabaret seating, a band in dressy clothes, and Ms Charles in a tight, golden dress, it felt like being in an old Jazz club. Her music also had that retro soul feel, with some modern R'n'B touches, on older songs like Think of You and I Am Your Woman and upcoming releases Little Window and Soul Run. She shimmied and wailed to the delighted hoots of the crowd. Ms Charles also offered several funkified covers: Money (Pink Floyd), Black Velvet (Alanna Myles), Nude (Radio Head), and Valerie (Amy Winehouse). On the latter, someone from the audience took up her challenge to come up on stage. He got cheers when it turns out he had some nice pipes; but he got a bit carried away, missed her broad hints, and monopolized the rest of the song.

Her band played a tight set with two excellent back-up singers. It was a fun night of toe-tapping music. If it weren't for those tables and chairs, more people would have gotten up to dance. The evening was presented by Roy Thompson Hall in the words of the MC: "Up-and-coming musicians who we feel might play Massey Hall some day". Here's hoping she gets a much deserved wider exposure.