Carleen Anderson

The Houston-raised, UK-based Anderson is mighty indeed, a singer/composer and former Young Disciple whose current album Cage Street Memorial, a suite of songs supporting the theme of pilgrimage, is a deftly crafted masterwork.

The faded victoriana of Brighton's Theatre Royal provides a suitable background for a Sarah Vaughan tribute, evoking the kind of setting she might have performed in in her heyday.

"For live performances, you absolutely have to see Carleen Anderson," Amy Winehouse once said. "She's someone who I would sit around the venue all day, just to hear her soundcheck." Her patronage failed to promote Anderson to the platinum division of soul, but if it had, the Houston-reared singer wouldn't hav

As the ferociously soulful frontwoman of first the Young Disciples and later briefly the Brand New ­Heavies the Texan relocated to London and came close to being the poster girl of the rare groove-obsessed funk-­inflected acid jazz movement.

The most striking thing about this ambitious, autobiographical song cycle was the simple power of Carleen Anderson’s voice. An American soul singer who found fame in 1990s Britain with the acid jazz pioneers the Young Disciples, Anderson hit notes high enough to make dogs question the meaning of life, followe

Carleen Anderson walked on to thunderous applause at Camden's Jazz Cafe,a huge grin stretching right across her face and rightly so it was a rare moment to catch this captivating artist and a chance to hear live her new album 'Cage Street Memorial'.