91Èȱ¬

Beverley Knight didn't stop moving

Beverley Knight's career trajectory so far has taken a winding path.

It's flowed from the R 'n' B slink of breakthrough hit Flavour Of The Old Skool to the commercial balladry of Shoulda Woulda Coulda, ending up with a concentrate of Motown-inspired sounds for her latest album Music City Soul.

In the '90s she emerged alongside other bright British talents such as Shola AmaÌý – but as they've fallen by the wayside, Beverley Knight is still rolling, but with a more mainstream sound.

Stints on 91Èȱ¬1's celebrity talent show Just The Two Of Us also helped to broaden the silky-tonsilled singer's appeal.

And this goes some way to explaining the assorted audience at the UEA – which ranged in age from 14 to 64 and included footballer Dion Dublin who falls somewhere in between.

With the show well-bedded in after its October start, it would have been foolish not to expect a performance in full blossom.

Cabaret-style start

What I wasn't anticipating though was a cabaret-style introduction with more than a dash of American brash about it.

The soul diva gave a Tina Turner-inspired show

With the MC reeling off a list of the Wolverhampton one's achievements, the biographical study only seemed to neglect her recent MBE – but by the end of the show I'd have gladly got up on stage and announced it myself.

Dashing around stage faster than a whippet - in a thigh-skimming Kimono dress – Knight launched into a Ain't That A Lot Of Love followed by a quintet of soulful tracks from her latest album to showcase her incredible vocal range.

While she scoped out every note, her band worked just as hard to galvanise a gospelish wall of sound.

When the layers of instruments were lifted though halfway through for a standout acoustic performance of No Man's Land, the soaring power of her vocals made you wonder if she ran on the same source of energy as the rest of us.

Dancefloor friendly

For a singer who first made her name by releasing dancefloor hits, unsurprisingly the funky strut of Keep This Fire Burning and pop-rock crossover of Come As You Are were what got people moving. It's when the pace is cranked up a notch that Knight is at her most engaging.

After warming-up for Prince's residency at O2 this summer and enjoying up to two hours of jamming with the Purple One at the after-shows, Flavour Of The Old Skool was the golden chance to build on this experience by infusing it with some '80s funk classics.

Beverley said Norwich was special to her

While the torrent of her cascading voice matches the quality of some of the world's greatest soul divas, her effusive politeness and captivating sense of fun is peerless.

Her spirit of generosity continued to the final throes - with the dazzle of the Nutbush City Limits-esque Black Butta and irrepressible bounce of Greatest Day making you feel she could go on all night. She was having as much fun as the fans.

The 'big up' introduction might have felt out of place during the opening moments, but come the end there wouldn't have been many people in the room who would have disagreed that she was indeed the Queen Of British Soul.

It's just that after 13 years not everyone knows it yet.

Beverley Knight played the UEA, Norwich, on Wednesday, 28 November, 2007.