Lula Pena
In her own words, Lula Pena is a "musical wanderer", playing music rooted in fado (or "phado" as she is said to prefer), folk, blues, chanson, flamenco and bossanova. In her introduction, Pena says that tonight will be a bit different to her usual show, a journey where she knows the starting point but doesn't know where it will take us.
In simple terms, that means over an hour of music without pause and no gap between songs. And it works surprisingly well. The music is languid and hypnotic, with moments both of melancholia and quiet joy. Pena's guitar technique is stunning, combining finger-picking, finger-tapping, plectrum-less strumming and instrument-slapping percussion - Jon Gomm may just have picked up one or two techniques from Pena - whilst her singing voice is rich and dark.
All told, this was an evening of highly enjoyable, highly-skilled but relaxed - and relaxing - music.
