Day
One
Despite its relatively modest size Mostly Jazz, Funk
and Soul has an impressive track record when it comes to booking genuine 100%
musical legends and this year two names really stood out, Ginger Baker,
arguably one of the most influential drummers of all time, and Mavis Staples
who, as part of The Staple Singers helped to both shape and soundtrack the US
civil rights movement back in the 60s. More on both of them later but as is
traditional there were plenty of treats on the Friday afternoon to justify
booking the time off work/ringing in sick/‘working from home’...ahem. Free School
(now with added Greg Bird) continued their sonic journey into space, Moroccan
born Albare laid down some sublime Latino jazz grooves and Jay Prince kept
things nicely chilled with the kind of laid back hip hop that makes Snoop seem hyperactive.
Sons of Kemet made an early pitch for act of the weekend with an intoxicating
mix of jazz, West Indian rhythms and bowel rumbling tuba. The kind of music
that makes you want to rip off your clothes and dance naked round a fire...happily
for all concerned I resisted the temptation. Local heroes The Peaky Blinders
stuffed more hits into their all too short set than you might think possible (including
a cover of Monkey Man, perhaps in anticipation of the Kings Heath Monkey Man’s
appearance in a wardrobe busting variety of outfits over the weekend) paving
the way for Kraak and Smaak.
Okay, as names go it might not be the best but
this Dutch collective were every bit as addictive, fusing 90s style Euro house
and disco beats with some fabulously funky basslines. If Chic had formed in
Europe in 1990 this is what they’d sound like. Several hundred dancing festival
goers can’t be wrong, this lot ‘kraak-ed’ it.
Ever wondered what would happen if you kidnapped
Prince and made him smoke ‘erb for six months? You’re not alone. Radio Riddler
(the side project of Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ Frank and Brian), who may well themselves
have sparked up enough joints to keep Howard Marks busy for a lifetime, clearly
also pondered this question late one fuggy night and, oddly enough, it actually
works.
It’s perfect festival fare and their reggae-fied versions of everything
from Let’s Go Crazy to When Doves Cry were pretty ‘spliffing’.
Omar’s band may have been detained at a border somewhere
but you can’t keep a good Souleyman down and backed by a rather glam looking lady
with a laptop he treated the early evening crowd to the truly unique and exotic
sound of Syrian rave, perfect for A-ravian nights I guess. Canadian six-piece Soul
Jazz Orchestra closed the second stage in fine style with their mix of Latin
and Afro grooves that, at their best, came across like the dream soundtrack to
some ultracool Blaxploitation movie. Apparently Stevie Wonder’s a fan and that’s
as good a recommendation as any.
Day one climaxed with Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ fan
friendly, hits heavy set. Huey was in fine motherfuckin’ form (if you’d had a
fiver for every time he said ‘motherfucker’ you’d be motherfuckin’ rich).
From
the laid back groove of King Of New York through to the band’s unofficial
anthem, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em and on to the biggies Scooby Snacks, Barry
White and last number of the night Fun Lovin’ Criminal itself it was a timely
reminder (20 years or so after they formed) that FLC actually have some pretty
awesome tunes under their belts and the informal laid back style of tonight’s (‘erb
enhanced maybe?) performance certainly made the best of ‘em.
Day
Two
Nice to hear at least one band pay tribute to Tommy
Ramone today (his death was announced on the morning of day two), kudos to the Atlantic
Players for their hugely enjoyable set of classic soul hits too before The
Heels took ska billing on the Second Stage with some rather cool versions of
the Mission Impossible theme tune and Billy Jo Royal’s Hush (perhaps best known
in its Deep Purple or Kula Shaker incarnations). Day Two was, as is now traditional,
curated by Craig Charles who’s arguably doing more to keep the soul and funk
flag flying than most. The day before was his birthday and what better way to
celebrate than by seeing son Jack Tyson-Charles (mum/actress Cathy Tyson was
also spotted in the crowd) blow the place apart as vocalist for Lack Of Afro,
Adam Gibbon’s mission to create new soul and funk classics.
He’s succeeding too
with tracks like Holding My Breath coming across as a perfect floor filler and,
in true saving the best till last fashion, Recipe For Love sounding like a
crate digger’s wet dream.
Next up Alexia Coley looked a million dollars in her
red dress, she sounded pretty darn great too. If Amy (Winehouse) and James (Brown)
had got jiggy Alexia might well have been their lovechild. As the sun beat down
the next few acts took it in turns to try to out sweat each other. I reckon you
could measure great live soul performances in sweat, with a teaspoon for those
who couldn’t give a damn and a bucket for those who put their heart and soul
into it. Myron and E were up first, the kind of old skool vocal duo that for
some reason seemed to have pretty much died out with Sam and Dave. Loved the co-ordinated
dance moves and the super smooth vocals of Myron (Glasper) coupled with the rawer
(and enigmatically named) E’s were blended in soul heaven. Definitely a bucket
worthy performance.
Next up Hannah Williams and the Tastemakers gave the
crowd a brief chance to catch its collective breath and, as you’d expect from
someone who’s supported the mighty Sharon Jones, the girl can sing bringing a
rare knack of moving from the sweet and soulful to the kind of gutsy growl that
Joplin traded in. Being a lady she didn’t sweat of course but we’ll award her a
bucket too. Omar Souleyman may have provided the WTF moment on Day One (in a good
way of course) but King Khan and The Shrines outdid everyone with an irresistibly
nuts mix of psychedelic soul, R & B and garage punk sung by Armish Khan, a
chunky Canadian of Indian heritage who perhaps didn’t do his best to win over
the crowd by not knowing where the hell he was. You can forgive him though (I’m
guessing him and his relentlessly enthusiastic band of merry men don’t know
where the hell they are most of the time) when he puts on a show like this.
With larynx shredding shrieks and freak beat tunes it’s like being transported
back to some speed fuelled house party in 70s Detroit.
Can he kick it? Yes he
Khan.
It takes some act to follow that but Cody Chesnutt nailed it. Channelling
the spirit of Marvin Gaye but with his own unique feel this dude could well be
the most soulful man on planet earth right now. Sporting an army helmet throughout
(it’s a look I guess) he blazed through tracks from his crowdfunded album
Landing On A Hundred (which should frankly be required listening for anyone
with ears) putting on the sort of gig that I thought only existed in grainy
footage on You Tube these days. The fact that he was still there signing and
selling copies of his album at the merch stand for a good 20 minutes or so after
the show tells you all you need to know. Give the man a bucket? Nahhh, the dude
deserves a swimming pool.
Highlight of
the whole weekend for me and, quite clearly, many others.
“It’s taken me 50 years to have the best birthday
evvvvaaahhhhh!” yelled Craig Charles before introducing the next band. That’s
the kind of statement that you’d normally take with a sack of salt but it
really was shaping up to be that kind of day and Ibibio Sound Machine didn’t
let the side down. With possibly the most diverse band line-up in the world (seriously,
there were less countries represented in the World Cup) their mix of West
African high life, tribal rhythms, synths, funky jazzy brass and anything else
they want to chuck into the mix got more people up and shaking their ass than
anyone else. I seem to have accidently invented a dance that lead singer Eno
adopted for The Peacock Song too...I say dance it’s more like fanning your
hands out like a peacock behind your head but if it takes off I’m happy to take
credit for it.
Awooga! Does Craig Charles know how to put together
a crowd pleasing DJ set? Hell yes. Something old, something new, something
funky...and souly too...if heaven has a clubnight Charles will be the DJ (no trainers
though...and Francis of Assissi can do one if he thinks he’s getting in with
those sandals). “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had...if I wasn’t sweatin’
so much you could tell I was cryin”. Awwww bless, now that’s soul. Speaking of which
Day Two was topped off, cherry on the cake style, with the legend that is Miss
Mavis Staples. A mere 64 years into her career she’s still in remarkably fine
voice, far better than the last time I had the pleasure of seeing her nearly a
decade or so ago in fact. There’s a patina to that voice that speaks of a
10,001 nights on the road, numerous civil rights marches in the 60s and a
lifetime of Sundays in church.
Kicking off with Come Go With Me she had us in the
palm of her hand from the outset swiftly followed by For What It’s Worth and Freedom Highway from back in the day and I Like The Things About Me from 2013’s
album One True Vine, separated by decades but united by the same kind of pride
and quest for equality that helped change the world. How many other artists can
lay such a claim eh? A stunningly soulful cover of The Weight and the more
recent Everything Is Everything (Lauren Hill) continued to brilliantly balance
the old with the new before she left us with a truly sublime I’ll Take You
There. She sure did...
Day
Three
And the Lord sayeth let there be jazz! Day Three’s always
the jazziest of the lot and Scottish ivory tinkler Ray Harris sprinkled on the
acid with a remarkably upbeat set for midday on a Sunday. I always feel for the
early acts and Harris certainly deserved a later slot and bigger crowd. Check
out the Latin tinged Where Do We Begin and the bluesy lament of Nothing Like
You to hear what you missed. Ortet laid on some nicely chilled and
contemplative jazz grooves, perfect for a little beard stroking, before funky ‘Felas’...and
lady...London Afrobeat Collective got the hips moving again (their lead singer
did things with her hips that would put me in attraction for a month...good
grief). Prime Minister in particular was a prime slice of Afrobeat and if you’re
looking for an introduction to this most infectious of genres you may well have
to go to Africa itself to hear anything better. From Africa to Latin America
and Sara Coleman added some ‘ay caramba!’ to the mix with her Brazilian Project
before The Heliocentrics left planet earth altogether.
Imagine Paloma Faith
fronting an acid funk band and you’ll have some idea of their sound with set
highlight Nuclear War sounding like the sort of track early era Moloko may well
have dreamt of recording. It was indeed a “motherfucker”. Reed Bass flew the
Birmingham with some neat jazz fusion and great solos, including one from the
drummer, perhaps mindful of who was up next...
Ginger Baker may have spent much of the last 50
years or so playing hide and seek with the grim reaper but he’s still here.
Just. “There’s a competition to predict when I’ll pop my clogs onstage” he
wheezed after one solo “Second prize is a week in Manchester...first
prize...two weeks in Manchester”. It’s the way he tells ‘em. Remarkably though
he seems to come back to life behind a drum kit, playing with all the intuitive
ease of man born with sticks in his hands.
His current band, Ginger Baker’s
Jazz Confusion, has a distinctly Afrocentric vibe, a passion that no doubt
dates back to his jams with Fela Kuti back in the late 60s and early 70s and
this set fused the two genres perfectly. “I need a piss” he said suddenly half
way through and wandered off, returning a few moments later to continue the
show. Given that he was once voted the musician least likely to survive the 60s
it’s easy to forgive such foibles and, whilst he may not have got the biggest
reception of the weekend those in the know recognised they were in the presence
of greatness...even if he’d quite possibly smash you in the face with a snare
drum if you’d had the snivelling audacity to tell him so.
The Stevie Wonder-ful Trope revisited that artist’s
back catalogue adding jazz to the soul and soul to the jazz before Courtney
Pine’s hugely entertaining set won over pretty much every man, woman and child
in the place.
Seemingly capable of playing every tune ever written on his sax (often
in just one number too) he’s the kind of dude that could motivate a corpse to
get up and dance, underlining just how joyful and unifying jazz can be. For 5
minutes the steel drum backed Liamuiga transformed Moseley Park into some kind
of West Indian tropical island and if I was stuck on there with just Pine for
company I’d be a happy man.
If you were looking to compile the ultimate party
album it’s a safe bet that they’d be several Family Stone tracks on there and
this evening the band dished up the very best of them, from Sing A Simple Song
right through to the spellchecker’s nightmare Thank You (Falettinme Be
Mice Elf Agin).
This current line up features three of the original members,
Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson and Greg Errico, with Alex Davis doing a fine
job of filling Sly’s boots and together they delivered the hands in the air
climax that this year’s Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul deserved with I Want To Take
You Higher inducing the kind of crowd euphoria that normally takes a sackload
of illegal substances. Glorious. Earth, Wind and Fire may have been absent but
‘water’ a way to end things.
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