Saturday 3rd December, 2011 – Review by Declan Luketina

The sauciness of Perth’s jazz darling Nicola Milan was dripping from the stage for the launch of her debut EP ‘Little Rendezvous’ at Kulcha on a melting December 3rd Saturday night.

Backed by the finest jazzed-up musicians, Nicola Milan seemed determined to make people yearn for their long-forgotten dance moves. In an instance the wispiness of her fantasising voice pulled in the audience. This combined with the deep thumping double bass from Rohan Nelson and the fanning of snares by Naomi Tan made everyone tap their feet in unison.

Attention was drawn away like a magicians trick towards the middle of ‘Have You Met Sir James’ and the brilliant MICHAEL COLLINSON on the saxophone perked up everyone’s ears. Billed as a special guest, Collinson took on a number of solos as if he had four lungs and twenty quick fingers. The piped-up saxophone took away the attention from the main star of the night, as Milan awkwardly bopped about and occasionally her voice was drowned out from the high pitched free styling sax.

However this was not the case during the ballad ‘The Chapter You Wrote in My Life’ from the EP, as she entwined herself with the audience flowing with deep sorrow. Suddenly her playfulness was brought forward as she performed a series of Christmas songs, oozing a unique brand of cheeky charisma that would even give Zooey Deschanel a run for her money.

During a rendition of Bing Crosby’s famous ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ the irony of winter snow loomed as she exchanged banter with her right-hand man Ben “Piano King” Clarke about the heat. Onlookers attempted to cool themselves with napkin fans from either the heat or the hotness of Nicola Milan herself performing the milky smooth title track, ‘Little Rendezvous’. A spicy Latin ‘A Lonely Flute’ (replaced with a clarinet) arrived, along with a belly dancer that hypnotised the audience and Milan herself thinking she had dance moves.

After a breather Milan and the band returned fully composed to perform a short bouncy number that included a human trumpet by Clarke. Claiming she was a timeless romantic with her new song ‘Romeo and Juliet’ which held true to clichéd romanticism. Milan didn’t shy away from her own renditions from diverse classics such as an orchestral-like ‘What a Wonderful World’ and ‘Route 66’ with the plucked flanging guitar of Chris Sealey.

A highlight of the night was the Piano King himself Ben Clarke performing the comedic ‘Santa Claus Blues’ which was done with the famous cockney accent of Michael Caine. Nicola returned with a boogie-woogie ‘He’s Trouble’ which elevated her with a variety of jazzy scats – as well as the band themselves performing their own solos – trading off rounds of applause as they completed their energised last song from the EP.

Milan herself remained throughout the night as a cheeky femme fatale who will manage to make people dance on tables and craving to hear that captivating voice once more, even if they do faint from Milan’s own spiciness.