Jools Holland @ Birmingham NIA – 19th December 2009

There is nothing better than good old knees up and a boogie-woogie on the piano to celebrate Christmas, 2009. Jools Holland recently brought his Rhythm and Blues orchestra to the Birmingham NIA and they didn’t fail to disappoint. The show is well known to be an annual event amongst fans. Jools is renowned for his New Orleans bopping elegancy and I was excited to witness how the orchestra would collaborate along side him.

After a few seconds of being seated, it was mentioned by Jools Holland crew member that we were all ‘in for a surprise’. It seemed we were promised an ultimate party. Owing to the fact I had never been to a Jools Holland show before, admittedly, I felt a bit conscious that I wouldn’t know any of the lyrics or songs. Moreover, I was praying the uncomfortable seats would not take away the sensation we were about to experience.

First to accompany the stage was an encore of The Langley Sisters. Dressed in red little Christmas numbers, they conveyed their harmonic, delicate yet vulnerable voices out to the open crowd of hundreds. The sisters appeared to have an aura of uncertainty about them as they were huddled into the centre of the stage. They reminded me a great deal of The Pipettes, however, the trio echoed a depressing tone within their vocals. Their set list contained songs such as ‘Flowers by the roadside’ and “Flowers the passing” which obviously spiralled a message of death and melancholy. The simplicity of the act, an acoustic guitar, a bass drum and a violin kept a minimal distraction from their voices, but it was felt that the large stage overwhelmed their performance and the sisters did not compose themselves into the overall theme of ‘Big band’ night.

The modest arrival of Jools Holland and the Orchestra on stage erupted a valiant applause from the audience as they dropped straight into a simple piano ballad.

Effectively, a projector screened a live video of Jools’ hands onto the back wall in order to portray how natural his brilliant piano playing is. As he effortlessly indulged into a slick blues number, we all knew we were in for a good time. Thunderous claps of the audience joined in rhythmic sequence alongside the introduction of ‘Gilson Lavis’ on drums, which was in an outstanding league of his own. Lavis’ was the ‘backbone’ of the show (Former drummer from Squeeze and has played alongside Jools for over 30 years) and he was seen cyclically spinning his drumsticks around as well as keeping the orchestra in rhythm. He surely convinced the majority of the audience he is not an act to be missed. He further conveyed himself to be the most comfortable percussionist on stage and indisputably the most physically engaged.

Jools concentrated on giving the audience a turbulent show and encouraged his fellow musicians with nods of the head and smiles all-round. With no hesitation from the introduction, the second song played on.

‘On the wrong side of town’ prepared dozens of people to be upstanding, and made the entire front of the arena boogie and have a good time. The accompaniment of ‘Fayyaz Virji’ on Trombone, ‘Phil Veacock’ on Tenor Saxophone and ‘Derek Nash’ on Alto Saxophone, also played their parts in keeping the Blues and rhythm flame alight. Jools asked the question of ‘How many people have been to see the Blues Orchestra before?’ It was declared that over the half of the audience had come back for another outstanding night and wanted to hear more. The blisteringly energetic show introduced a variety of new material, some slow and some more expressive. “Go Rocking Horse Go” was blared into the crowd. The overall genre of the song could be comparable to the famous Chucky Berry’s ‘Go Johnny Go’ rock and roll composition. Lead blue’s guitarist, Mark Flanagan, intoxicated the arena with guitar riffs that further rumbled through the air. The festive jingle of the bluesy snoozy composition was enough to get even the frailest of people on their feet dancing!

The orchestra further leaped into a country smash of ‘Cant stop loving you’ and then into a brilliant Ska rendition of “I’ve got you under my skin”; which was an explosive duet involving ‘Rico Rodriguez’.(He was also seen as a saxophone player). The versions of the songs further caused an explosive amount of people to up stand and stomp their feet.” Ticking around the clock” further conveyed the true meaning of Christmas as the tambourines and bells established a typical, festive rock ballad.

It must be said that Jools Holland himself, is not the most composed and vigilant soloist, but he sure takes a good stab at it. Throughout the night, more band members were introduced to the stage, one being Chris Holland, Jools’ brother. It is known that the Holland family are all good with their hands!

One of the most extravagant moments of the night was Gilson Lavis ‘ drum solo. The breakdown of his improvisation proved to be a hit. It reminded me of the scene in Wayne’s World where Garth’s drum solo proved to be a huge inspiration of the rock Era. The phenomenal experience lasted for 3 good minutes, with flashes lights, and the pounding of drums never sounded so good. As the pace quickened, the louder the audience clapped and screamed at his brilliance. This was not something to be underestimated.

The show had spectated more guest stars, so upon the arrival of the legendary Dave Edmunds on guitar, the party atmosphere increased. “I hear you knocking” was one of the many songs he performed alongside the band and ‘Sabre Dance’ was one of the most inspirational. The only downside to his rendition of songs were that they were all becoming predictable song choices and increasingly repetitive. Nevertheless, he was interesting to watch but his effort of audience interaction was minimal.

The ‘sturdy support’ of the 3 guest vocalists allocated ‘Rosy May’ to have the most crisp vocal, as she belted ‘Got my Mojo working’. As well as being a backing singer to Jools and the band, Louise Marshall also proved to be an outstanding support. She could be compared to the lead singer of the Noisettes’ and the beautiful elegance to her voice adapted a slight twang which could of been heard in the 1970s. The rawness of both girls’ gospel renditions were translated into a new quirky genre of its own. The audience appeared to enjoy their presence. I believed their voices could both have been translated onto an easy listening CD.

It was the Birmingham born Ruby Turner who stole the night. Her entrance was dramatic, music blaring, lights flashing and the tone of her impeccable voice had an Diana Ross ring to it. She eagerly performed ‘Too Shy To Say” which further involved saxophone solos and even more bursts of overpowering blues riffs. One of the more slower songs performed was a cover which perfectly conveyed her strong vocal ability.’ The Sun’s Gonna Shine In My Backdoor’ was promising to be the highlighted vocal of the night with an orchestral finale to end the song. Her final song consisted of a visual backdrop of a train speeding up along a track. The collaboration of talent, musical inspiration and vocal consistency was finally assembled to be the ultimate show stopping song.

As the music went through many different genres, finishing with not one but two encores of improvisational blues rhythms, it was awarded that Holland was a winning and captivating host of the night. The final few minutes screened a cartoon accompaniment to a comical and light-hearted rendition of the ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. Jools’ British sensation of blues was effectively transformed into a ‘New Orleans hypnotic trance’ by the end of the night. Through the use of outstanding percussionists, valiant musicians and the strong vocal empowerment, the experiment with musical ranges purely demonstrated how versatile the orchestra actually is.If you know someone who loves a good old sing along, a joyous performance and a bit of hip-wiggling and hand clapping, the Jools Holland band is definitely something you should tell your friends and family about!

Review – Emma Stokes
Photos – Matt Pargeter

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