Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, Perth Concert Hall
Rob Adams
FOUR STARS
It was all rolling along quite well. Jools was at the piano, directing a show that's part modern day equivalent of the old pop tours when singers came on for a song or two, then left, and part throwback to the days when every palais de danse had its own big band, except here there's more accent on boogie woogie.
Count Basie and the recently departed B.B. King were saluted. Louise Marshall sang a fine Valentine Moon. Gilson Lavis's drum solo was enthusiastically applauded and Marc Almond appeared for his cameo, causing an outbreak of dancing as the orchestra superseded Tainted Love's electro backing with warm, physical verve. Had it ended there, the audience would probably have gone home happy, having had a good night out.
But then came the bonus: Ruby Turner arrived and all heaven broke loose. The Brummie soul queen turned Perth Concert Hall into a Southern States Baptist church. It isn't just the volcanic power of her gospel-fired voice that's irresistible, it's the richness of tone she produces and the sheer feeling she expresses as she envelops the listener in a vocal warmth that's at once hall-filling and deeply personal.
From the moment she walked onstage the whole evening lifted. Her singing and very presence seem to energise and inspire the musicians around her. Rock Me, with its entreaty to "hide me in Thy bosom till the storm of life is over" was one mightily ecstatic hymn of praise and Peace in the Valley can seldom before have sounded more magnetically appealing than in this incarnation, providing sonic nourishment for the soul.
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