UEA LCR, Norwich

> UEA LCR, Norwich

Dressed in a tight top and denim mini skirt, and singing about weed, infidelity and brainless party girls, Amy Winehouse could never be called a conventional jazz singer.

She can, however, be called a fantastic, soulful, sexy performer, with a razor-sharp wit and a maturity that belies her 20 years.

Last night she was every inch the self-assured jazz star, the modern version of the great 40s jazz singers she so admires.

With a presence on stage that made it hard to take your eyes off her, and a voice that at the same time beckons you in and warns you not to try anything funny, Amy sang for 90 minutes without a dropped note or crack in her voice.

Powerful vocal gymnastics drew spontaneous applause in the heartfelt There Is No Greater Love, complemented by an accomplished six-piece backing band.

Without the songs to back it up, this talent would wear thin, but the combination of wry humour, heard in I Heard Love Is Blind (where she defends an affair with “he looked like you”), the stark honesty of What Is It About Men, and the tenderness and passion shown in equal measure throughout the evening kept us all enthralled.