On 11th of July, we headed over to Byres Road to see Jalen Ngonda playing a sold out show in Òran Mór. The original gig date was 24th April, but due to illness, fans patiently waited until July and were not disappointed by the intimate performance filled with soul, passion and love in the room. Jalen Ngonda walks on the stage promptly at 8:30pm with his bass guitarist and drummer.
First song he played was ‘Rapture’ from his album ‘Come Around and Love Me’ and straight away the crowd time travelled back to the soulful 60s and remained there for the night. As well as soul though, there was waves of R&B and splashes of Blues the fans were submerged in. From the first to the last song, his voice was flawless. You could tell the viewers were in awe of his vocals from his angelic high notes to his rarely heard low notes. When the low notes came out to play, the fans were audibly amazed by what they were hearing. I appreciate a musician that can sing whilst playing an instrument, but the way Ngonda played his guitar and also hit perfect high notes was something else. The set was filled with songs from his album as before mentioned, but also slipping in a couple of covers such as Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s ‘My Funny Valentine’, and Jimmy Reed’s ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do’ during his encore as a few personal solo songs for the audience. I will say though as the venue was a sold out house and spirits were high, when he came back on for the encore and started ‘My Funny Valentine’ it was quite difficult to hear as the crowd were a tad chatty but soon quietened down after a few good ol’ fashioned “shut up’s” were thrown around by gig-goers.
Ngonda didn’t only just sing with the band. The lad included the crowd and trusted us to help him with a call and response type song ‘Give Me Another Day’ that went down a treat. I loved seeing Jalen Ngonda perform and feel privileged seeing him in such an intimate venue as he is destined for great things and will no doubt be headlining big festivals soon in my eyes. I enjoyed that his music resonated with such a variety of ages on the night and hope he continues to create art that attacks the ears in all the right places. Please do go see him live if you know what’s good for you.