MISSING a flight due to an expired passport, getting it renewed on a public holiday, flying from New York, giving interviews, attending a film premiere ...

any octogenarian who had had the kind of week that Annie Ross had already had by Tuesday night might feel a bit tired. But then Annie Ross is not just any octogenarian.

Clearly energised by the terrific reception she'd just had at the film festival, the jazz star took to the stage at Oran Mor and did not leave it for 90 minutes. She didn't even take a break to let her top-drawer duo – pianist Tardo Hammer and bass player Andy Cleyndert – carry the load for a while. And what's more, her deep, rich voice sounded stronger and more commanding than I'd heard it before.

She held the audience spellbound with her vivid and utterly compelling renditions of a series of ballads. She may not be able to sustain notes – and filling in the gaps with colour and wit is a task stylishly pulled off by Hammer – but she paints a beautiful picture and tells a gripping story. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and One Meatball, a Depression-era number, were mini-dramas and the audience hung on every word she sang.

Indeed, it's her commitment to the lyrics which shines through; they're invested with emotion and intelligence, and there are few singers who care as much about the meaning of what they're singing. Among many highlights Lush Life was a particular stand-out, not only because to hear Ross perform it like being given a masterclass in life lessons, but also because she learned it direct from its writer, Billy Strayhorn.

Annie Ross plays her second Oran Mor show tonight at 8pm

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