Adelaide Cabaret Festival – Mojo Juju

Mojo Juju saunters out with a drink in hand and quickly drags us into a 1940s world of downtown gangster hang outs and bars.

She establishes that she is not your average gal, and that the domain that she wants to share with us is one of the past, and one that we all know – from old Hollywood films.

Accompanied by some (not always audible) mumbling, womanising wise-cracks and American city slang she delivers a strong and diverse collection of songs from her latest album – with fabulous backing from her band.

It’s all about falling in and out of love with women for Juju.

She tells a tale about a girl named Franky – so smooth that she shone, and leads into one of her songs – 'Ever Since You Kissed Me I Switched To Drinking Gin' … with some lost love reminiscing and a couple of good slugs from her on-stage bar.

Jazz, Blues and Rock suit this tight ensemble well – some of the best moments when Juju picks up a guitar herself and works it to the max… and when her excellent sax player takes off… totally.

But while Mojo Juju establishes her film noir, seedy all night diner world, her story telling does not really give us enough to fall into it with her, fully. We need more of a narrative to follow; some kind of real and emotional journey to go on, if this is the form she is using.

But although the stories did not entirely come off and the gangster clichés were not sustained, the music did keep us with her and the band… most of the way though.

Being back on the white lined road with bed-sits and broken neon lights leads us into the final number. “I’m a bit of a romantic” Juju says and delivers a heartfelt song – 'Desire'.

Mojo Juju is a unique and interesting performer who can certainly sing up a storm… and as said, her band is top-notch.