In partnership with STUDIOCANAL

The Amy Winehouse Band, made up of the singer’s original sidemen and women, are keeping her flame burning live, and its bassist and director Dale Davis is a musical supervisor on Back to Black. Here, Davis talks us through his favourite memories of playing with Winehouse – who once hailed him as “my favourite person to go anywhere with”.

When I realised Amy was special…

“It was my third gig with Amy, at Powis Square, London [during The Notting Hill Carnival in August 2003]. I thought this would be a difficult gig for her – a young white girl in a predominantly Black environment, but within half of her set, the square had completely filled up. I thought she didn’t need a band because her voice was so powerful. She was on fire.”

How she kept us on our toes…

“After four nights of singing the same song, she would introduce new melodies and change things around so everything was different. That ended up being one of her downfalls because she improvised every night and gave so much performing that it left her tired.”

Where she got her love of jazz from…

“We played Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London at the beginning, which was the right place for her because her nan, Cynthia, dated Ronnie and she was steeped in the history of great singers.”

What made her exciting…