Motown and more

This was as close as I'd ever been, or was ever likely to get, to the authentic voice of Motown and its ilk. Vivian Sessoms performed at Smiths with our local band, PJ Junior and The Soul Pimps. I hadn't know of Vivian, but she came with an excellent CV, having collaborated "on stage and in the recording studio alongside immortal artists the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sinead O’ Connor and Ryuichi Sakamoto, to mention just a few". Wow, serious. A woman born and bred of a musical family in Harlem with a history of church singing. And interestingly, an activist to boot. She'd visited Australia before and this time came to Canberra and Smiths. And her band? PJ Jnr... has impeccable membership but I'd only managed to catch the band once before. Together, this was a stunner. Jazz and popular song distilled with fewer chords and deep, funky grooves and that authoritative voice over. Vivian led with dynamics that would turn on a coin, powered then pp. We could feel the cultural differences, too: our tame responses drawn out; the demands from Vivian and her commitment in return; not common Australian territory. Sometimes you feel delirious with the strength of the emotions; not once I felt goosebumps. Totally apt with demanding masterpieces like Billy Strayhorn Lush life and political paens like Nina Simone Feeling good and Billy Holliday's racial lament for all time, Strange fruit. There were serious undertones, with Amy Winehouse Love is a losing game or Leonard Cohen Hallelujah and marks of respect to common heroes, Prince Under the cherry moon and Stevie Wonder Superwoman and also a few Cole Porter evergreens and even some light-hearted responses to the pop charts, Icona Pop and Amerie. What we heard were mostly takes from her new album, soon to be released, although with our local band. Nothing lost here: they were great: James with force of nature grooves and the tightest tones; Aron considered and clear but also echoing and explosive; Damien varied in keyboard tones and rich with arpeggiated colour; Kay firm and solid and understated. And determining and guiding it all, Vivian's voice that would soar or bend or jump or luxuriate in accent or inflection. The voice of '60s R&B and beyond: cultured and resolute, too often knowing and forlorn, and the essence of internationalised American popular music. Wow: here on stage, amongst the few at Smiths, available for a chat after. Worthy of the big stage; available in intimacy. This is what we chase, these precious moments available if you keep your eyes open to passing opportunities. A little bit of Motown and authentic Harlem and the like here at Smiths for the night. Fabulous.

Vivian Sessoms (voice) was backed by PJ Jnr and the Soul Pimps at Smiths. PJ Jnr... are Aron Lyon (guitar), Damien Slingsby (keyboards), James Luke (bass) and Kay Chinnery (drums).

Funkification

It was a last minute change that had PJ Jnr & the Soul Pimps playing at Hippo Co. A double bass gig (James Luke and Lachlan Coventry on two different takes of 6-string electric basses with Mark Sutton drums) was called off at short notice. That was not the only change. I hadn't been to Hippo for some time, but now it's Hippo Co with its new livery of Alaskan bar with snow shoes, wagon wheels, lots of timber and stained glass lights. It still has ranks of cocktail liqueurs but now looking more warm and homely. Still noisy, but the Soul Pimps could handle that. They started with smooth funky takes on some standard modal jazz and this fit the cocktail groove. But then, as somewhat a surprise, Damien laid down some rap and the second half of the longish set moved to original groove tunes with vocals. This was not standard jazz repertoire, but funky and popular and played with the chops of well trained jazzers. Aron played fluently with a clean tone, but there were echoes and I particularly liked the choppy wah guitar chords that are integral to much funk. Damien played piano or Rhodes or organ tones from his Nord and was both fluent and frequent with his solos. Kay was rock solid, resolute, unrelenting with just occasional structural fills and James was his usual inventive self, stating the changes admirably but with liberal melodic embellishments and varying tone-colours. I liked the first tunes, modal made funky: the way the changes were implied and tempos slowed and feels funkified. It's nothing unusual or particularly new, but a living style that enlivens bar-life and it goes well with the original vocals numbers. The songs were decent, too: repeating structures, sparse chords, often heavily syncopated. I enjoyed the rap, perhaps more than the singing, for its essentially rhythmic nature and its contemporary feel. Not that I heard the words and I still maintain that words have import in songs. The second set was louder as it commenced and I was only staying for the first set anyway, but I enjoyed the skills and the funk and the cocktail bar night-life that's so different from a jazz club. Nice one.

PJ Jnr & the Soul Pimps comprise Damien Slingsby (keys, vocals), Aron Lyon (guitar), James Luke (bass) and Kay Chinnery (drums).