'Finest of her generation' blues singer Brox takes Newbury by storm
Kyla Brox at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore on Saturday, February 5. Review by Brian Harrington
Kyla Brox put on a stunning show at Arlington Arts tonight. Both the power and range of her vocals is phenomenal. Within seconds it was clear just why she won the UK blues challenge in 2018 and went on to win the European blues challenge in 2019 and why she has just been nominated for a British Blues award. There are elements of Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone about her performance, but she is an artist who clearly feels every note of every song and, ultimately a true original in her own right.
Her father, Victor Brox, is a legend of British blues having been part of the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation in the 1960's and touring with his own band, which Kyla, the youngest of his 5 children joined at the age of 12. Her father worked with, among others, Jimi Hendrix, Ian Gillan, Keith Moon and Eric Clapton.
It would be wrong not to mention Kyla's band, Mark Warburton on percussion and Danny Blomeley (Kyla's husband) on bass are a rock solid rhythm section while Paul Farr on lead guitar is superb, his expressive and flawless solos are a joy.
Kyla Brox has been described by the Manchester Evening News as "the finest female blues singer of her generation". I would absolutely agree with that assessment.
Opening with the sultry When We're Alone and Beautiful Day, both from her 2016 album Throw Away Your Blues, she also included Devil's Bridge, a track written about, as she put it a beautiful bridge in France, and the brilliant title track from her 2019 album Pain and Glory. The autobiographical Bluesman's Child was wonderful and the first half ended with an enthusiastic singalong on 365. The audience was captivated.
The second set opened with If You See Him and gave Kyla the opportunity to spotlight her skill as a flautist. It is impossible to identify highlights of tonight's show because, from beginning to end, the whole thing was a highlight.
A genuine tour de force to please any blues fan, Kyla's encore of the Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah was sensational.
