During a scorching summer’s eve amidst a London heat wave, the Need2Soul July event at Oval Space felt a bit limp and wilted, if only for the sole reason that it was much too hot to be inside a club.

The large terrace of the Oval Space meant that most of the party-goers stayed outdoors, finding comfort in the night air. This meant that the dancefloor was half empty and the party vibe was a bit lacking.

It was by no means any fault of the line up, which guaranteed quality dance tunes all night long – master selectors Moxie, Floating Points and Lil Louis behind the decks. The very special guest of the night that most people were excitedly waiting for was the legendary Chicagoan vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Peven Everett.

When Everett took to the stage, the crowd instantly grew exponentially. Everett delivered an energetic one-man show, going straight for the party jugular with his classic hits, ‘Put your back in it’, ‘Stuck’ and ‘Gabriel’ – the track that turned Everett into a House-hold name (excuse the pun).

At first I was surprised not to see a full band on stage with him, feeling almost a bit disappointed. But by not having other musicians, I was able to hear Everett’s vocal acrobatic skills more clearly, with which he managed to bring the house down. His pipes blew the roof off and his fingers sped nimbly up and down the keyboard as though the keys were on fire. But what else should we expect from this remarkable talent? Everett started his music education and career in jazz, having studied under Wynton Marsalis, played alongside Roy Hargrove, toured with Branford Marsalis’ group Buckshot LeFonque, and even performed in Carnegie Hall.

Everett whizzed through songs that the audience, mostly aged 30+, knew only too well and sang every word to with their hands piercing the air with gun-fire gestures to tracks including ‘Burning Hot’ and ‘All My Life’. Everett’s performance finished rather quickly – 40 minutes in total, which included two encores. I was also expecting to hear more from his new jazzy pop album Pin Up Jazz, which just released at the beginning of July.

All in all, it was a huge privilege to watch Peven Everett in action and in fantastic form performing house classics from the early 2000s, showing his beloved London fans that his musical genius is still dedicated to making people dance.

Ayain Camcam