The cavernous vaulted ceilings of Christ Church Cathedral would be enough to intimidate any solo vocalist this side of the divine, but Grace Knight took the resplendence in her stride for the annual Newcastle Music Festival on Saturday night.
If Knight's vocals betrayed the barest hint of timidity in the opening number - an upbeat four-bar-bluesy cover of Dinah Washington's Soft Winds that neatly served to introduce the packed house to her three-piece band (a timidity that Knight readily admitted afterwards) - it melted away quickly as she and her band settled into a slow burn 14-song set mingling smooth jazz standards with a touch of Irish folk and a couple of throwbacks to Knight's Eurogliders days.
