Denise Pearson at the Jazz Cafe

Dubbed “the British Jackson 5”, British pop group Five Star achieved a string of Top 40 singles and albums in the UK in the 80s with hits such as Can’t Wait Another Minute, All Fall Down and Let Me Be the One. Since the group disbanded, prolific lead singer and composer Denise Pearson has been busy working on her solo material, making her West End debut in Thriller, appearing on The Voice and supporting The Jacksons on their Unity tour – so when we heard she’d be performing at The Jazz Cafe in Camden, we just had to catch her!

It was no surprise that London’s famous jazz venue was completely packed out with fans old and new looking to see the Five Star sensation and hear that voice – which has been described as “uncannily pitch perfect as a female answer to MJ”. Denise exploded in to view accompanied by the Urban Soul Orchestra to the raucous applause of the crowd. We boogied along to the infectious retro, R&B infused Freak Dance, swayed to new single Free Fall and some of us even shed a tear to a moving, spine-tingling performance of We’re Not Over. She closed the set with an electric performance of Electric. The sultry soulstress treated the crowd to a trip down memory lane with older tracks that still sounded as fresh as they did twenty years ago, Pearson’s electrifying vocals still as powerful and beautifully melodic.

Gemma Whitfield
Photos: Daniela Valla

For further information and future events visit Denise Pearson’s website here.

Watch the video for Freak Dance here: