From rasping whisper to a banshee-like scream: New Yorker is a real force of nature

Sari Schorr with support Sunjay, at Arlington Arts on Friday, October 21. Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON

Sunjay describes himself as having a foot in two camps, folk and blues. He came up through folk clubs and transitioned in to the blues. He has been nominated for a BBC young folk award and for British Blues awards. He has supported the likes of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, John Renbourn and Terry Reid among others.

His finger-picking blues guitar playing is superb and his songwriting intelligent and articulate, ranging through serious topics to the whimsical and amusing. His stage presence and rapport with his audience reflects the fact that, although he is only 29 years old, he has been recording and touring for 12 years. I particularly enjoyed I Can Love You Like A Man, an early song written when he was just 17, and Ghost Train.

Sari Schorr's debut album A Force Of Nature (2016) could not have been more aptly named. It describes Sari perfectly. On stage she is a ball of energy whose phenomenal vocals range from a rasping whisper to a banshee-like scream, while her band really know how to rock. Plenty of great lead guitar licks, swirling Hammond and solid bass and percussion.

Sari, a New Yorker, was due to tour the UK over 2 years ago but the pandemic prevented it. Her joy to be performing and touring again was tangible. She is a natural and exuberant performer. Her superb set included great tracks spanning her whole career to date. There were self-penned gems like Demolition Man, Back To LA and one of my favourites, A New Revolution, as well as some powerful covers such as Ready For Love (the Mott The Hoople track popularised by Bad Company).

The medley of In The Pines and Black Betty was incredible while the final encore, after the excellent Valentina of I Just Want To Make Love To You (Etta James) was truly epic. The entire audience rose as one to give Sari a thoroughly deserved standing ovation.

Fantastic.