@ Assembly Checkpoint, Edinburgh, until Sun 30 Aug 2015 @ 19:25

Parisian cabaret star Isabelle Georges returns to Edinburgh with her trademark soaring vocals, theatrical delivery and a stunning, male five-piece band.

Georges leads us through a repertoire of French, English and German songs featuring the music of Brel, Bécaud, Piaf, Aznavour and more. Those with more basic language skills may struggle with this but her facial expressions and body language ensures the audience gets the gist, even if the audience don’t all get the subtle humour with which she delivers each song.

Along with musical director and vocalist Frederik Steenbrink, Georges’ sultry resonating voice takes us through stories of love, survival and dreams in an unbeatable mixture of jazz, cabaret and pop. We witness a beautifully ‘signed’ piece about how a lover’s touch makes her feel, which is all the more poignant for this artistic expression.

Georges delivers the songs with aplomb and humour in her inimitable style, interacting with the audience as she belts out the stories with her honeyed voice. The musical direction and arrangements are faultless, as are her fantastique male band.

Assembly Checkpoint works well for this cabaret style show, with Georges mingling with the audience at close quarters. Never failing to uplift the audience, this is cabaret at its most sultry with music to melt the soul. Georges’ music is what feelings sound like.