... Perrier Young Jazz Awards 2000 Cafe de Paris Big-name judges such as vocalist Salena Jones and saxophonist Jean Toussaint, chaired by journalist Jack Massarik, selected this year's pick of the bunch from three categories--musicians, bands and vocalists. Each of the performers, who had won through a long series of heats to reach the final stage, was given ten minutes in which to shine before an ...

... Mixed sample of Berlin style Drill Hall Berlin Brecht Calling the audience pinheads at the outset and then ordering them to sit down may have seemed a good way of giving the contemporary theatregoer a brief taste of Bertolt Brecht's twenties Berlin. But the subsequent interpretations of his songs and poems failed to live up to that initial deliberate rudeness and lacked bite. Apparently, ...

... The Original Virgins The Acoustic Cafe We're not your normal boy band, jokes Stephen Wambsganss about The Original Virgins, an acoustic duo he and Carl Hodson formed four years ago--and what a relief that is. Instead of the emphasis being on image and tacky lyrics, we are presented with two obvious talents who are not afraid to be original and honest in their songwriting. Hodson met Texan ...

... Reliving Rattigan's heydays By JOHN MARTLAND Michael Darlow's reworked biography of the man who was one of Britain's most successful playwrights for a 20-year period between 1936 and the mid-fifties made an absorbing Book of the Week: Terence Rattigan-the Man and His Work (R4, from Monday, April 10). Clive Merrison was the reader, and of particular interest was Rattigan's time as a ...

... Pride of the Clyde Glasgow Johnny Beattie seems to be an old friend of every member of this show's audience--and it is mutual. The crowd knows the jokes and the songs, but Beattie trusts them not to shout out the punchlines. From the traditional accor dion of Ian Muir to Russel Lane's fabulous Calum Kennedy pastiche, there is something for everyone. But, like Scotland itself, it has its ...

... The Millennium Show Millennium Dome The Dome's new dance extravaganza devised by Mark Fisher, no less, with music by Peter Gabriel is fantastically spectacular, but, like Greenwich's overgrown tent itself, a shade hollow. Why we British have an obsession with mediocrity and a fear of taking risks, I do not know. But the resources these 26 performers have at their disposal (57 winches is a lot ...

... Jont Ronnie Scott's Boasting plentiful stage presence and charisma as well as a superb voice, Jont powered his way through an attention-grabbing performance that was rich in both variety and musicianship. The singer and guitarist's range encompasses music varying from the folk-inspired to more pop directed approaches, delivered in a manner which is at times reminiscent of performers such as ...