Ginger Bennett
Testimonials;
Songs From My Soul
The evening commenced with a seven-track set from vocalist Ginger Bennett and pianist
Frances Knight. The opening track was their version of Nick Drake’s Riverman. It’s a song
which has been covered a few times in jazz formats, both as an instrumental and as a vocal,
not least by Claire Martin. The Bennett/Francis version takes a parred-back no-nonsense
approach leaving the merit of the song to speak for itself. In fact, there was nothing overly
flashy about the whole set and this enabled Bennett’s voice to shine whereas Knight’s
keyboard playing was perhaps a little too understated. Bennett certainly has stage presence
and her south London banter between tracks gave the impression of someone who is fun yet
has a sensitive soul.
The set included two Gregory Porter tracks; We Are All Like Children and Water Under
Bridges, the original of which features Laura Mvula. The second of these songs tugged at
the heart strings and brought-out some similarity between Bennett’s voice to that of Mvula.
That said, there were tones of Ella Fitzgerald in show tune If I Only Had a Brain.
The duo came across best when performing their own penned songs which included Flight,
a song which could have been written for Clio Lane with just the right amount of scat
vocalization to bring out a jazzy, feel-good vibe. The poignant lyrics of Legacy tell a story
where even in what should be considered a multi-cultural society, prejudices remain.
But it’s the ballad Better which brings the best out of these two writers/performers and is as
good as any song in their repertoire. The track was recorded at the Tower Theatre, released
last year and is well worth checking out as is the whole of their Songs of My Soul repertoire
which will next be performed at [the Canterbury Festival 2022]
Trevor Moss (Cool at the Edge) Academy FM Folkestone
You were fantastic at Margate. You need more exposure, will look out for you from now on. Brilliant! Margatre Soul Weekend
I loved your gig and it was the perfect thing for a Sunday morning but would work equally well in an evening performance. You have such a special voice and I love your banter in between songs Canterbury Festival
Thanks so much for looking and sounding AWESOME again at our wedding. You all sounded brilliant and it was great to see people dancing in the beach to you. It added to a brilliant day. Thanks so much hon. x - the groom
An absolute revelation - such a tight band with standout performances from all the musicians - and where did they find that vocalist?!
Project F ... fantastic band ... everyone enjoyed it with dancing ... great way to break the week up ! Get down there don't miss out 😉
Feet hurt. danced and danced Back Hurts kept on dancing Head Hurts, drank farrrr tooo much...lost my coat.....lost my voice singing along... AWESOME AWESOME NIGHT
An absolute revelation - such a tight band with standout performances from all the musicians - and where did they find that vocalist?!
Project F ... fantastic band ... everyone enjoyed it with dancing ... great way to break the week up ! Get down there don't miss out 😉
Feet hurt. danced and danced Back Hurts kept on dancing Head Hurts, drank farrrr tooo much...lost my coat.....lost my voice singing along... AWESOME AWESOME NIGHT
Fabulous night at Whitstable & Seasalter Golf Club's annual dinner and dance. Project F, you guys were amazing - I didn't stop dancing! Thanks for making it a memorable evening!!
Back Down to our favourite haunt for 1/2 term a year since our last visit.
Was lucky to get a table for me and friend on a chance change of service at the fully booked Buoy and Oyster on a cold and wet February night.
"We came specially for the music having seen the band at the venue before. Class musicians provided the back drop to our visit. Not background music but not quite cabaret. Wonderful song choice (even adding a couple of songs in spanish and french) witty and light audience interaction and warm funny banter amongst the musicians bemoaning the lack of Valentines love action. some wonderful versions of beatles songs suitably jazzed or up souled to absolute perfection. Stand out songs - Will you still love me tomorrow, Trying Times and When you were low.
The band are called THREE equals" February
"..Also liked the live music on Wednesday evening, delivered by a kind of laid back, house jazz/soul band with an excellent vocalist. All in all, a super restaurant, worth seeking out for a relaxing evening and top food!" Feb 2017
" We love Ginger with Project F and went to see this band thinking they were playing. This is a small lounge sound and a chance to hear her great voice clearly. I don't think they play in Faversham so you hardly hear her like this. She sang Will you still love me tomorrow and we nearly cried. The sax player is class too" Karen and Mark - Playing in Faversham website
"Great jazz trio"... - Buoy & Oyster Aug
"... quite captivated by the gentle soul band who played my favourite Anita Baker song and even tackled Gregory Porter! :-)" - Margate Soul Festival Aug
"your voice is liquid gold, your musicians are ace" - Folkestone Aug
"Watching the Sun setting and listening to a very cool Soul/Jazz Singer and feeling blessed ❤️🎶" - Morgans May 2016
"you and the band were absolutely brilliant" - Bouy and Oyster Mar
"such a lovely band - great music from so many ages - lovely voice" private party Mar
"Awesome Performance" - Margate Jazz Festival Sept
"“The KD Dance Orchestra played at our Gala Dinner for the conference we were running, and were absolutely fantastic! The conference delegates had a ball and were up dancing right until the end – a sure sign that they were a big hit! Thanks to Ginger and the KD Dance Orchestra for playing at our event – would highly recommend if you want a cool, funky band to get the party started… and finished on a high note!"
World Marketing Conference - University of Kent