Sunday at The Mostly Jazz Festival 2011

Moseley Park, Birmingham, 03/07/2011.

If Saturday was the “jazz” day of the festival the focus shifted on Sunday to the sounds of funk and soul. The Main Stage was curated by Craig Charles, the one time performance poet, comedian and actor most famous for his role as Lister in Red Dwarf. These days Charles hosts his Funk & Soul show on BBC Radio 6 and also tours the country playing his celebrated DJ sets. Charles was the comp?re for the day and many of the bands we heard had already featured on his show.

The smaller stage was curated by The Yardbird, one of Birmingham City Centre’s premier music pubs with the emphasis today on the many up and coming funk and soul bands that have appeared at the venue. Once again the festival was blessed with excellent weather and even larger turn out than on the Saturday. This was very much “The People’s Sunday” and a tribute to the enduring appeal of the funk and soul genres.

KEITH YORK QUINTET

Having said that the first act on The Yardbird stage had more in common with the numerous jazz acts that had appeared on the Saturday. Session drummer Keith York led a Latin flavoured band fronted by saxophonist and vocalist Dutch Lewis through a ragged but good natured set of jazz and Latin standards. The band also featured Dayne Kranenburgh on bass guitar, percussionist Eddie Maguire and the mysterious Freddie on keyboards with vocalist and occasional saxophonist Jayne Steele also augmenting the line-up on some numbers.

With Lewis switching between alto and tenor the group played Jobim’s “No More Blues” and Cannonball Adderley’s “Work Song” before Lewis lent his voice to “The Good Life”. Steele joined the group for the hoary old Latin number “Sway” with Maguire, Kranenburgh and Freddie all taking solos.

Lewis took up the baritone for “Bernie’s Tune” and Steele took over the larger instrument for the closing “Samba D’Orfeyo” with Lewis on alto, and with features for bass guitar and percussion. The quintet’s music may have been a bit rough round the edges but it was cheerful enough and got the day off to a breezy start. Even this early on the first dancers were on their feet. It was a pattern that was to be repeated many times throughout the day.

THE PARIS 1940’s

There has been a real buzz about this young Birmingham based band and after witnessing this exceptional performance it was easy to see why. The five piece take pop tunes and give them a jazzy twist but there doesn’t seem to be anything contrived or gimmicky about this, indeed The Paris 1940’s with their boy band looks have a very contemporary edge.

Anchored by Birmingham Conservatoire graduate Jim Bashford at the drums the 1940’s are fronted by charismatic vocalist Thom Kirkpatrick and also feature guitarist Joe Archer and double bassist Martyn Spencer but the group’s musical jewel in the crown is Harry Lightfoot, a wizard on both keyboards and saxes and undoubtedly a name to watch out for.

The high standards of musicianship and all round professionalism are exceptional for such a young band. I’m not much of a pop listener these days so I can’t claim to know everything they played but it all sounded good. The band’s myspace page reveals that a couple of these were the opener “I’m Not Alone” and “Make Luv” which featured the live sampling of Lightfoot’s saxophone. I don’t think either of these was original but “Primrose Hill” was and sounded as good as anything else in the set. 

A soul/funk version of “Wonderwall” was particularly impressive and this was followed by a segue of Lady Gaga songs (“Poker Face” and Papperazzi”) . We also heard brilliant versions of Franz Ferdinand’s “No You Girls” and MGMT’s “Electric Eel” and the set closed with the group’s fast becoming legendary interpretation of Motorhead’s “Ace Of Spades”. 

They went down a storm and should perhaps have been given a slot later in the day. Many fans (including my wife) went to catch their second set on the tiny Swing Meadow Stage later in the day and the word was that they were brilliant again. The group’s Facebook page is full of favourable comments about the Mostly performance, particularly from the band’s growing legion of young female admirers. The potential is there for The Paris 1940’s to achieve mainstream success. I can just see them coming back and headlining this festival sometime soon.

Mind you I still think they should change their name. When the band’s agent first contacted me asking me to publicise the group’s gigs on The Jazzmann I was expecting them to be some sort of Django Reinhardt/gypsy jazz group. Having said that this band is so good and has built up such a momentum that I don’t think even having a naff name is going to stop their inexorable rise.

It’s rare to encounter a festival highlight quite so early in the day. Check them out for yourselves. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

THE MOVES

No, they hadn’t invited Roy Wood along to play. The Moves are a young soul band from Leeds fronted by the voice of singer Rae Rae Palmer. Sometimes the group performs as on octet but here the format was a six piece with guitar, bass, alto sax/keyboards, drums and percussion. The Paris 1940’s were a hard act to follow but The Moves made a fair fist of it and retained the attention of both the listeners and the dancers. Palmer has a powerful soul voice but perhaps needs to work on her stage craft and the overall standard of the playing was good. The Moves write their own material and the set included “How to Lose Sleep”, “Lazy Days” and the appropriately titled closing number “Go Home”. They’re not afraid to include some social commentary in their lyrics as their number on the festival CD, “Who Am I?” shows. The Moves are regular performers at The Yardbird and have also acquired a following in their Yorkshire heartland. Even if they couldn’t quite match the quality of the previous act there was still much here to enjoy.

ARIYA ASTROBEAT ARKESTRA

Another Leeds based band appeared on the Main Stage. The AAA is an instrumental ensemble with a name that is an obvious homage to Sun Ra. They combine jazz, Afrobeat and reggae influences in a pan-cultural mix that sometimes recalls London based band Soothsayers. AAA houses some of the best musicians in the north of England with Taz Modi, who made such a good impression as the pianist with Matthew Halsall’s group yesterday, the dominant soloist on on an array of electric keyboards. The group’s four man horn section of Pete Williams and Leon Johnson (tenor/alto saxophones), Martyn Strange (baritone sax) and trumpeter Simon Nixon ensure that the band has a big, punchy ensemble sound. Guitarist Gareth Parry, electric bassist Paul Baxter (also leader of the piano trio Eyes Tight Shut) and Gilad Atzmon’s drummer of choice Eddie Hick round out the group. A heavyweight combination indeed. 

The group’s material included the opening call to arms of “African Kings”, the melodica flavoured slow dub of Baxter’s “Re-Education/Miseducation” and the organ powered Afrobeat of “Lost In Kinshasa”.Their repertoire also included heavily mutated versions of Michael Jackson’s “Get On The Floor” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic”, the latter a feature for the sax shredding of Leon Johnson and the guitar of Gareth Parry. 

AAA’s blend of energy and impeccable musicianship was a big hit with the Moseley crowd. Gareth Parry is set to leave the group shortly but hopefully they will continue without him. Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra were one of the big successes of the day both in terms of musical content and the number of people on their feet. Well done guys, a band well worth seeing again sometime.

CANTALOOP

Cantaloop are a long established Midlands rap/funk/soul outfit fronted by vocalist/rapper Dannie Dee and featuring 100 C on guitar Paulo de Wotton on bass, The Beef on drums and the Horns Of Plenty, Hot Lips on sax and Simon Holland on trumpet. Besides the names they’re also notable for appropriating the famous Cadbury logo for the cover of their new EP “Chocolate”.

I stuck with them while my wife took herself off to see The Paris 1940’s again. Good move on her part as Cantaloop’s brand of rap, funk and soul did little for me despite the occasional gratifying bursts of trumpet and rock influenced guitar. I’ve never taken to rap as a genre and frankly there was too much of that for me here with Dee seeming as if he was trying just a bit too hard. I found much of their material to be rather one dimensional and although they obviously had a knot of loyal supporters they lacked the broad appeal of the 1940’s or AAA. “Fatman”, one of their early tunes and something of a minor hit drew the biggest response from the crowd. I very much doubt if I constitute part of Cantaloop’s target audience but sadly this wasn’t for me.

PIGBAG

Those of us of a certain age remember Pigbag’s massive 1982 hit “Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag”, an affectionate homage to the great James Brown. Paul Oakenfold’s later re-working of the tune brought it to even wider attention and just about everybody knows the famous riff even if they can’t put a name to it.

Influenced by Charles Mingus, Don Cherry, Sun Ra and others Pigbag were more experimental than the “one hit wonder” tag suggests. The original line up only lasted a couple of years but a lingering interest in the group’s music and their legacy has seen a new version of the band re-emerge onto the 2011 live circuit with original members Chris Lee (trumpet), Ollie Moore (saxes) and Kofi Adu present and correct in the present line-up. Keyboard player Jessica Lauren, guitarist Ed Riches and percussionist Godwin Awala are also key members of Pigbag 2011. Trombonist Annie Whitehead has also played with the group but was today conspicuous by her absence. The original line up was comprised of musicians from Birmingham and Cheltenham and today’s gig represented a bit of a homecoming for some.

An enjoyable set saw Pigbag mixing the ” hit” and it’s offshoot “Mama’s Disco Bag” with more experimental material such as “Spirit Of Mingus”, a homage to Pigbag’s jazz roots. “Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag” inevitably got the whole park to its feet, the thumping bass line fuelling blistering solos from Lee on echoed trumpet and Moore on tenor plus a one of a number of percussion features for the excellent Awala. Lauren’s synth embellishments are an important part of the new band’s sound and she is also an accomplished keyboard soloist. The infectious “Cuban” closed an enjoyable set and if Pigbag weren?t quite as sharp as the earlier Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra further gigging will only see them get better. I’ve just dug out one of their old albums and it sounds surprisingly good. It’s good to have them back. 

OYA BATACUDA

Oya Batacuda are a community Samba band based in Birmingham. Directed by their “maestre” John Richards they’re one of the best bands of their type that I’ve heard and their forty minute slot on the Yardbird stage proved to be extremely popular.

The set began with the massed ranks of the band parading around the park before encamping on and around the stage. The veritable battery of drummers were followed round the park by dancing members of the Birmingham public-second liners if that isn’t mixing metaphors and locations.

Sometimes with this type of band the relentless clatter of drums can quickly become boring but under the direction of Richards Oya Batacuda kept the rhythms varied and interesting and they soon had a large crowd grooving in front of them. The sound of the band was enhanced by the addition of singer Patsy Fuller who added her soulful vocals to a couple of numbers.

I very much enjoyed the infectious enthusiasm of Oya Batacuda as they added a touch of Brazilian carnival to an already festive atmosphere.

SMOOVE & TURRELL

This seven piece combo from Newcastle is based around the white soul voice of John Turrell, a singer with a touch of Van Morrison about his sound but given his birthplace perhaps a natural successor to Eric Burden. Smoove, the other half of the equation is less easy to fathom, he plays percussion and handles the announcements but despite his high profile hardly seems to be an essential figure. The rest of the band (keyboards, bass guitar, tenor sax/flute, guitar, drums) lay down an impressive funk groove with the group’s deranged keyboard player (whose name escaped me and isn’t stated in the programme) proving to be the main soloist.

Smoove & Turrell are one of Craig Charles favourite bands and have appeared frequently on his radio show. This together with their energetic live shows this has built the band a considerable following. Personally I found the incessant funk grooves and the self consciously puerile Geordie humour a bit much to take after a while. Turrell is a great singer, he doesn’t need to sink into self parodying Gazza/Geordie caricature, but maybe that’s more Smoove’s influence. The bulk of the crowd seemed to find it highly entertaining so perhaps it’s just me.

The material included the band’s new single “Slow Down”, the lighter waving ballad “Gabriel”, the gritty realism of “Beggarman” and the earthy “Hard Work”. A rousing sax driven version of Chicago’s “I’m A Man” closed an energetic and well received set.  It didn’t quite do it for me but John Turrell is an enormous vocal talent. His current band may be based on beery bonhomie but maybe it’s time he thought of going it alone.

THE ATLANTIC PLAYERS

Over on The Yardbird Stage local outfit The Atlantic Players turned in a very similar set. Veteran soul singer Junior “Swoop” Blackwood and his band featuring Keith Owen (guitar), Kate O’Malley (sax, flute,vocals) Steve Bates (trumpet), Mick Laffoley (drums) and Red (bass) combined funk and old school Stax style soul in a programme that kept the dancers on their feet. I was at last tempted to go down and join them, the time for serious analysis was pretty much over so I can’t tell you exactly what they played other than it was good fun and got a warm reception. Looking at the band’s Facebook page it’s clear they had a great time at the festival. Good on you guys.

BRASSROOTS

Over on the Main Stage the seven piece brass combo Brassroots kept the pot bubbling with one of the best sets of the day. The group’s leader trombonist Jerome Harper is an expat American who has brought together an excellent set of London based players to make music in the spirit of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Hypnotic Brass Band and others of that ilk. All are incredible musicians and the group’s sassy brass arrangements of pop tunes are high on both musical sophistication and sheer physical funk energy.

Harper and Matthew Benson (trombones), Achilleas Anastasopoulos and Trevor Walker (trumpets), Charly Richardson (saxes) and David Aird (tuba) are augmented by drummer Craig Boorman. All of the group are superb musicians and the agility of Aird’s tuba bass lines and solos was frequently astonishing. Harper is a born entertainer and Brassroots’ live shows are big on audience participation and he quickly had the audience singing and clapping along on their audacious arrangements of hits by Gnarls Barkley, Michael Jackson, Beyonce and others. This was hugely entertaining stuff played with a high level of musical skill.

CRAIG CHARLES

While the Main Stage was being prepared for the Sunday headliner Booker T festival comp?re Craig Charles played a banging DJ set on the Yardbird Stage that ensured that everybody stayed on their feet. Classic old school funk and soul from the likes of James Brown rubbed shoulders with more contemporary grooves. Charles never let the pace slacken off for a moment and the grooves just kept on comin’. I’m no real fan of DJ culture but this worked really well. If DJing is an art then Craig Charles is a major league artist.

BOOKER T

Booker T Jones is something of a living legend and Mostly Jazz was honoured to have him. Throughout the sixties multi instrumentalist Jones was part of the house band at Stax records in his home town of Memphis, Tennessee and appeared on dozens of hit records either with his instrumental combo the MGs or on the records of vocalists such Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and many more.

Jones is best known for his work on the Hammond organ and the one he played at Moseley was a mighty beast with TWO Leslie speaker cabinets. The current Booker T Jones Band features three superb players in guitarist Vernon “Ice” Black, bassist Jeremy Curtis and drummer Darian Gray. The ensemble is, as the saying goes, “tight as shite” and the grooves they laid down were irresistible.

Drawing both on his old hits and his more recent albums, the instrumental “Potato Hole” and the more song orientated “The Road To Memphis” Jones was in terrific form, opening the show with the churning Hammond funk of “Harlem House” from “Potato Hole”.

Jones is more than just a fine organist, he’s a talented songwriter and had a hand in the composition of many of the old Stax hits. One of his credits is co-authorship of “Born Under A Bad Sign”, a huge blues hit for guitarist Albert King and later covered by cream. Jones is also a pretty decent singer and tackled the tune himself here with Black providing searing guitar accompaniment.

“Green Onions” was despatched surprisingly early on but this ensured that EVERYBODY was bouncing. Next up was “Walking Blues” from “The Road To Memphis” followed by “Soul Limbo”, familiar to most British listeners as the Test Match Special Theme.

Singer Kimiko Joy joined the band to duet with Jones on “Representing Memphis”, a paean to Booker T’s home town and then lent her sassy, powerful soul voice to a segue of soul/r’n'b classics “Shame,Shame,Shame” and “Mustang Sally”. Mavis Staples’ “I’ll Take You There” was another vocal duet following which Joy exited the stage and left the band to get stuck into some more organ instrumentals.

Jones took up the guitar and handled the vocals on Sam And Dave’s “Hold On I’m Comin’” with Gray giving the song a modern touch by adding a dash of rap. I think most listeners still missed the driving horns of the original though.

Jones’ Hammond rumbled mightily on “Time Is Tight”, perhaps the best of all his instrumental hits,  grafting gospel organ onto a mighty secular groove. Craig Charles thought that was going to be it but Jones, still seated at the organ sang the anthemic “Down In Memphis” from his recent album to close the show.

I think it’s fair to say that today the headline act was the highlight of the day and that the atmosphere genuinely was electric. Booker T is a bona fide legend and a total professional and it was a pleasure to see him perform.

Mostly 2011 was another hugely successful event and on “People’s Sunday” the goodwill in the air was palpable. Start praying now for more sunshine in 2012.

Oh yes, and the hula hoops were back!

     

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