“Reporters would ask me who my role model was. I’d say Mahatma Gandhi, but I knew it was really Carol Burnett.” A candidly humorous admission by Nataniel in his new show, Swing, Soul and Sugar, which opened in Johannesburg on Thursday – his first performance in the city in more than six years, at the gaudy Caesars Gauteng Casino’s Circus Maximus Theatre.This talented singer, storyteller, food fundi and songwriter never fails to entertain. Dressed in his usual dramatic array of striking costumes (“I now own 3 000 outfits,” he says, and one knows he’s probably not joking), Nataniel follows his usual format, songs alternating with stories.On a dark, austere stage, with only Nataniel and his five-piece band illuminated by coloured spotlights, there isn’t much to draw one’s attention away from the world he creates – a world of quirky characters and sad truths, with achingly beautiful music binding it all together.The music encompasses jazz, soul, swing, even gospel, and Nataniel performs with passion, his eyes closed as he seems to live each song while sonorously belting it out. Unfortunately the opening-night audience seemed strangely subdued, only coming to life now and then.His stories pack as much punch as ever. Where Jeffrey Archer’s yarns have a twist in the tail, Nataniel’s have a truth, often with one last comment turning a silly tale of common people and their foibles into a clever social comment.The combination of his soulful singing and impeccably professional presentation and the capable backing band (including Tonia Selley, who takes a break from behind the percussion stand to sing a lively, jazzy number) brings about an enchanting evening out, worth the drive to Caesars. Hopefully it won’t take another six years before Nataniel returns to Jozi.