Neil March reviews Tamara Barschak’s live performance at the Temple Of Art And Music
42 NEWINGTON CAUSEWAY, LONDON SE1 6DR
The last time I visited the Temple of Art & Music (TAM) near Elephant & Castle was when I reviewed a gig by Tomas Doncker & The True Groove All Stars (which also included a set by Sam Huber) in 2024. Sadly, it is one of a number of great grassroots live music venues potentially under threat due to the mundane inability of local politicians and planners to see beyond the end of their noses. The community, here in a socially and economically hard-bitten area of Southwark, needs music and entertainment hubs like this housed in the vibrant Mercato Metropolitana, an extended Box Park adorned with a dazzling array of international street food stalls and bars where music plays at an unobtrusive volume but audible enough to add to the atmosphere.
At this stage, it is unclear whether the bulldozing of the Mercato Metropolitano in 2026 to make way for another skyscraper can somehow be achieved without destroying the venue. The information available online is sketchy to say the least.
Tonight I am here as the guest of talented singer-songwriter and pianist Tamara Barschak. Tamara’s 2022 album Kaleidoscope was well received by listeners to my Trust The Doc Radio show and it is exciting to know she has a new single out in late November. Tonight there are two sets but I am only able to cover one due to travel commitments in the morning. It is more than sufficient, though, to experience a robust representation of Tamara’s music. We even have Tamara Barschak beermats complete with QR codes!
She kicks off tonight with a lively Bossa track sung in Portugese which she dedicates to ‘all the wonderful men in our lives’. Her band consists of Tamara on Electric Piano plus Bass Guitar, Drums and Saxophone. It’s the ideal combination for her Latin Jazz based songs. Moving Up follows, based around a bluesy piano figure and corresponding vocal. The rhythm section is tight as anything but also subtly understated in their playing while the sax adds fire and colour. When a Brazilian cover is introduced, the saxophonist switches to flute and provides a highly accomplished solo while Tamara’s improv in open fourths and fifths is striking. A track, appropriately dedicated to Joni Mitchell makes room for an impressive Bass solo. Tamara explains these elements in the songs without over-indulging.
The last song in set one is a moving track about ‘unconditional love’ entitled Rivers Of You. A repeating piano line soon becomes a clever cross rhythm with the bass and drums, lifted further by some exquisite saxophone.
Tonight has been a reminder of the sheer joy of hearing superbly written and arranged Jazz and Latin songs played by musicians of such high calibre.
