James Hunter, championed by none other than Van the Man as the current voice of British R'n'B, played the main auditorium at the Norwich Arts Centre - a converted church - on a warm, autumnal Saturday night.

Friendly and approachable before the show, James took centre stage, suited and booted, just after 9pm and instantly owned the space; his stagecraft no doubt a testament to his extensive touring schedule.

Before the band even appeared, the set-up looked promising - double bass; vintage drum layout; two horn mics - but when the wave of nostalgic, rhythm led, horn riffed, dance R'n'B (as opposed to its later incarnation as pure Soul) hit the stone walls, the promise was truly fulfilled.

James and co regaled us with songs from his latest, acclaimed two albums, ‘People Gonna talk´& ‘The Hard Way', both eponymous title tracks being standout versions. Although, perversely, it's hard to pick many standout song performances. Suffice to say, if you own these albums and like them, be assured that they must have been largely recorded live with minimal overdubs, because from beat one to encore time, which loosened up a bit, the band hit a seamless groove. Only at one point did James loose his way, wondering what to play next, asking the audience for suggestions. One lone voice rang out, “Mollena”, from ‘People Gonna Talk'. James' reply? “Na, that's s**t that one” – which is a good joke for medical students. They went on to do a passable (sic) version.

Whilst after a style, admirably the material from these albums is self penned by James. Ironically, if you could pick out audience reaction high spots during the set, they were for the only two covers, both by the 5 Royales, ‘Don't Do It' & ‘Think' (better known by James Brown).

James Hunter's vocal gymnastics are more than worth a mention. Yes, you can clearly hear his influences; yes, he is therefore consequentially not completely original; but, hey, wouldn't you like to be able to do a very convincing impression of Sam Cooke? Also, he has the showmanship to go with it; the cutesy nods and glances, the pauses and painful cries. He's got some nifty chops as well, played out on his Les Paul Special, replete with P90s. A particularly good rhythm player, he can play some grinding lead too, only occasionally getting a bit finger tied – although it has to be said, in true vintage form, he uses an unforgiving, raw amplified sound.

Jason Wilson and Jonathon Lee provide a solid, understated, loping rhythm section, unobtrusive and ideal. Lee Badau and Damien Hand riff the horns, baritone and tenor, with immaculate precision. Breaking out of those constrains, Damien Hand is obviously a superb tenor saxophonist, by any standards. A very youthful looking Carwyn Ellis smoked on a high-tech, would-be Hammond-a-like.

Does James Hunter know what he's doing? Absolutely! Does his band know how to groove? You bet! Did the audience at the Norwich Arts Centre dance? Well…… COME ON BRITAIN, if you want dance music of this calibre to survive, please, move your feet!


JBBlue