Burt Bacharach and Joss Stone, review: Stone masters Bacharach’s songbook to show him just what friends are for

Stone’s knockout voice was tough and tender, and Bacharach seemed beguiled as he played the grand piano, says André Paine
Dream team: Burt Bacharach and Joss Stone at the Royal Festival Hall
Steve Gillett/Livepix
Andre Paine5 July 2016

There may be an age gap of six decades, but the pairing of 88-year-old songwriter Burt Bacharach and a supremely soulful Joss Stone was an outstanding success.

“This is definitely on my wish list,” said Bacharach, who still gets a kick out of talented female singers tackling his enduring American songbook.

Bacharach wrote for Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin, and he relished sharing stories with the audience about those singers and his classic compositions.

The punchlines were invariably the same — “and it was a hit” — although Stone teased him for more about his lovelorn musical arrangements. “I want the gossip,” she said.

The barefoot singer was a willowy presence in her summer dress, and Bacharach seemed beguiled as he played the grand piano. Still only 29, she was fearless in taking on these beloved songs alongside their composer and an orchestra. She delivered a dramatic, swooping vocal on Dionne Warwick’s Walk On By, while The Look Of Love was an intimate acoustic interpretation in the same class as the Dusty Springfield original. “Nice tune,” Stone coolly informed an admiring Bacharach.

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Stone’s knockout voice was tough and tender on I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, sassy on the Sixties pop of Wishin’ And Hopin’ and serene on (They Long To Be) Close To You, a schmaltz-free rendition accompanied by Bacharach’s tinkling piano. At the end, he gave her a thumbs-up.

Their partnership was the centrepiece of a long and rewarding set that also featured a remarkable soundtrack medley with a poignant, slightly croaky Bacharach vocal on Alfie.

During That’s What Friends Are For, fans were standing and cheering the octogenarian as Stone joined him for the uplifting finale. Their show was billed as a one-off but these friends should definitely do it again soon.

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