Jack L

Restaurants tend not to have the best acoustics in the world, which is perfectly natural given their primary concern is food. One notable exception to the rule, though, is Killorglin's Sol Y Sombra, a tapas restaurant where the acoustics are sublime but yet surpassed by the scrumptious food served.

And it was in Sol Y Sombra, on a recent evening, that Jack Lukeman, or Jack L, played to a full house, or rather a full church, as the restaurant is in an immaculately renovated old church. The setting, quite literally, takes your breath away as does the food. But we're not here to review restaurants so let's move on to the music.

Jack L released his first album in 5 years, "Broken Songs", in April of last year. The album ended up going platinum within a month of release, and saw Jack making a triumphant return to the Olympia Theatre for three sold out nights. He also released a DVD, 'Moment', which captured the magic of the Olympia shows and also went to Number 1 in the Irish DVD charts in October last.

Jack L is, for my money, one of the most extraordinary singers to come from Ireland, a country renowned for extraordinary singing talents. "Where on earth does that voice come from?" is the natural reaction to hearing him sing for the first time.

The literal answer is from Athy, in Co. Kildare, where he "grew up and worked an apprenticeship as a car mechanic, fine-tuning his voice as well as engines in the interesting acoustic of empty garages." Perhaps it was this training that allowed him to so masterfully capture the audience in Sol Y Sombra, then again perhaps not, but capture it he most certainly did.

Singing a mixture of songs from his new album and older favorites he seemed to relish the unique atmosphere of the venue, actually leaving the stage at one point and walking in amongst the crowd. They responded magically calling him back for an encore that lasted for five songs and included, his best known number Georgie Boy.

Used to playing in larger venues like the Olympia and The Point, it was wonderful to see him playing a much more intimate gig and interact with an audience that we so close to hand. And the food was bloody good too!

For more information on Jack L please log onto www.jacklukeman.com and for information on Sol Y Sombra please log on to www.solysombra.ie