The Jazz Cafe has had a bit of an upgrade and refit since I was last there, sitting upstairs for a meal and a guaranteed view of the stage. The meal was so-so but it was the music we were there for. One of the good things about sitting upstairs is (other than sitting rather than standing in a crowd) that you stand a chance of meeting the people you're there to see since they walk past you on the way from the dressing room to the stage. More of that later...
On came the 10-piece band, squeezed onto the relatively small stage and there was Jack Ashford, original Funk Brother who played on hundreds of hit records in the '60s and beyond, a staple of the Motown sound. The sounds he can get out of a tambourine are astounding and they're always there in the mix of a Motown record. And there he was on stage in his pinky-purple sparkly jacket giving it some heavy tambourine and chatting and telling stories of the old days. The first part of the set was Jack and the band plus three singers giving us their versions of some classic Motown songs before leaving the stage for 15 minutes for a break.
When they came back on, Jack was followed past our table by a little old lady in a black jacket covered in gold braid and I realised that this was Mable John, one of the original Motown singers from about 1960. Both Jack and Mable were helped down the stairs to the stage but once she was there there was no stopping her. She still has a great voice - she may be small but her voice is enormous - and she commanded that stage and the audience like the old pro she is, chatting, joking and telling tales - she was great! Her bluesy voice is still powerful and she could knock a few current singers off the stage without a second thought.She invited all of us to go back to America with her to celebrate her 80th birthday next year - once she was on stage you'd never think she was 79. She sang a few songs including, 'My Name Is Mable' and two versions of 'Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That' merged together, the original Berry Gordy arrangement and then the Stevie Wonder version that gave her a second hit with the song. Admiral Mable was excellent, and I told her so when she walked past on the way back to the dressing room.
All through Mable's set, a lady in white was hovering round the balcony, clapping and singing along, having a great time and, when Mable left the stage, she was introduced to the audience. Chris Clark was finally on a stage in London for the first time in decades. She was obviously nervous and happy and excited all in one bundle and when she opened her mouth to sing her voice proved why she was signed to Motown back in the mid-'60s and she still has an excellent voice. She didn't seem to be as comfortable on stage as Mable but that just added to her charm - she was doing this for the love of doing it rather than as a seasoned professional. She commented a couple of times about how she loved being in the UK for the reaction form the crowds when she can't even get arrested in America.
Chris told some tales of the old days as well, like being told by Berry Gordy to start singing before going on stage at Motown shows so that the audience would get used to her soulful voice before seeing that she was white. She couldn't stop smiling and her songs were all crowd pleasers, 'Loves Gone Bad', 'I Want To Go Back There Again' and, one of my favourites and a big surprise, the incredibly happy, 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)'. It was a delight to see her on stage and a fun moment when she walked back to the dressing room, spotted Chris with the cover of her first album, 'Soul Sounds', on the front of his tee-shirt and gave him a great big hug as a reward. She promised she'd sign it after the show and, true to her word, she did!
By this time, Brenda Holloway had taken the stage and the audience and her wonderfully warm and rich voice was filling the air. Brenda should have been a great big star if that was based on sheer vocal talent but it didn't happen. She commanded the stage like Admiral Mable, in her emerald green dress (matching my shoes) and giving us some serious emoting in her songs about love and lost love. She opened with a song I didn't recognise (to my shame) which I think is from her 'It's A Woman's World' album and then went into her Motown classics, 'Every Little Bit Hurts', 'When I'm Gone' and 'Operator'.
Brenda also shared some memories of Motown days, both singing and song-writing, telling us how Berry Gordy had encouraged her to use her own experiences in trying to write songs, so, when a boyfriend left her she channelled it into a song. She said her sister Patrice helped her with the words and structure and launched into 'You've Made Me So Very Happy', adding that she's sold four million records with that song. A consummate professional, curtsying after songs, laughing and flashing her big smile at everyone, Brenda is a fun performer, responding to shouts from the crowd with one-liners and keeping control of the stage and us. And, when she walked back to the dressing I had my moment of meeting her, shaking hands and telling her what a great performance she's given us. I shook hands with Brenda Holloway... I couldn't bring myself to be so intimate as to hug her.
And, afterwards, there was an opportunity to meet and greet, to get things signed and to buy other things. I had the booklets from both Brenda and Chris's Motown anthologies signed and I will treasure those. Chris was a mad thing at this point getting things signed and, as promised, Chris Clark signed his tee-shirt. I took photos but I'll leave those to Chris to post (or not).
I'm seeing the ladies again on Friday in a bigger show at Hammersmith and fully expect to meet them again - I'm looking forward to that!
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