The Famous Spiegeltent Thursday 13th June.
Thank you, Julia Zemiro and Adelaide Cabaret Festival! What an absolute delight it was to see the fabulous Gunhild Carling. Who said the Swedish are only known for winning Eurovision, catchy pop songs or giving us ABBA? You can add Carling to the list as Sweden’s darling of hot jazz. A multi- instrumentalist with a swing that takes you back into the glorious times of the 1920s, last night in Adelaide she lit up the The Famous Spiegeltent and wowed us with her sexy and sassy brand of Jazz.
It’s sweet mix of song, dance, swing and jazzy b-bop and Carling shines for the whole show. She feels the music and makes you feel it too. After the first few songs she said, “The (audience) applause wasn’t killing it but wait until a few more songs!” Truer words have not been spoken. This was Carling’s first time to Australia and perhaps some in the audience didn’t know what to expect. I was one and was totally captivated and enchanted by her renditions of classics like Dream a Little Dream, Undecided, It Had to Be You, La Vie En Rose and It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) just to name a few.
The way she switched from trumpet to trombone to harmonica and even playing Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water on the bagpipes was brilliant but when she took out the recorder then you knew she was some musical freak. She is the only one I know of that can make the recorder look and sound like a sexy instrument! It just shows the level of talent from this little ball of fire.
The instrumental showdowns between herself and saxophonist/clarinet playing Paul van der Koogh was a highlight. Considering the band consisted of all local Adelaide musicians they bonded with Carling like they had been playing with her for years.
Another of Carling’s talent is to play three trumpets at once and that was a sight to see. She does it like it’s a natural thing to do. Her playful and quirky manner is addictive and no matter what she does play, sing, talk or dance it’s captivating. I mean, who plays the trumpet and the upright bass at the same time? Gunhild Carling does!
Carling threw in a few original songs like her jazzy and swinging tune Hot Head which was a rush of sweet energy to watch. When she sang to us “You are my only universe” it felt like we were. She played, she sang, she danced, she changed costumes a few times and she made us laugh. By the end of the show she got her rousing applause. Even a standing ovation! Carling’s first visit to Australia was another country for her to conquer, and she pretty much did just that!
Anastasia Lambis
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