I like ‘em. In fact
you’d have to be a real curmudgeon not to like Ron Sayer and Charlotte
Joyce. Here’s why.
 |
| Ron Sayer Jr - giving it the treatment |
The musicianship is bang on the money, starting with the
husband-and-wife out front, on guitar and keyboards respectively. Sayer is a seriously impressive guitarist,
delivering to gobsmacking effect in a range of styles, while Joyce adds colour
on keys, not least with her N’Awlins honky tonk contribution to ‘Mojo Boogie’.
Meanwhile their rhythm section of Will
Overton on bass and Paul Wooden on drums is tighter than a duck’s rear end. The latter in particular is one of those
drummers who get your attention not just for the rhythms they lay down with the
bass, but for the way they interact with the guitar to punctuate matters
brilliantly.
Together the four-piece lay down a swinging soul-funk
foundation, which they then spice up with material that varies the
emphasis. Right from the git-go they
demonstrate a liking for R&B, with a reading of ‘Nutbush City Limits’ that
registers well on the raunch-o-meter, and not long after they give Etta James’s
‘My Mother-In-Law’ a whirl, starting quietly before opening up the throttle.
Later they produce a spot on Stax-like reading of Lynda Lyndell’s ‘What A Man’. Their funk leanings also take different
twists and turns, from the moody ‘Hard To Please’ to the slinky ‘Wolf In
Sheep’s Clothing’.
 |
| Charlotte Joyce - on fire |
The vocals are pretty damn good too. Sayer is certainly no bum as a singer –
soulful when he puts his mind to it, and on ‘Any Time You Want’ delivering a
pin sharp falsetto on a just-for-a-laugh singalong. Will Overton also takes a couple of turns,
surprising us the first time out with the high key he works in for ‘Mojo
Boogie’. But the star in this department
is Charlotte Joyce. Clean and pure on
record, she manages to find more depth and strength, delivering a bravura vocal
performance on her own composition ‘Mr Weatherman’. What’s more, on the few occasions when she
steps out from behind her keyboard to take centre stage, she has a presence
that would give Jo Harman a serious run for her money.
Now I’ll grant you, there are times when matters begin to
feel just a bit too easy-going, and could do with a bit more drive. Partly this is down to their between songs
patter, which is all very good humoured but so cosy it could fit into an
episode of The Good Life – and no, Ron, managing to say ‘penis’ when
introducing Al Green’s ‘I’m A Ram’ doesn’t alter that. Not even saying it twice. But fuck it, I enjoyed The Good Life when I
was a kid – the real point is that too much chat can dilute the impetus of the music.
In any event none of that matters when they really decide to
get down to business. At the end of
their first set Joyce smiles and says it’s time for her husband’s moment of
self-indulgence. Sayer then announces
that “I like a bit of Rory Gallagher, actually”, and proceeds to give it the
full treatment, getting into full-on gurning guitar hero mode and pulling out
all the stops, aided and abetted by Paul Wooden giving it serious welly on
drums. I dunno about the Rory Gallagher
reference, but I like a bit of Ron Sayer actually, when he goes for it.
As the set draws to a close they again shift into another
gear, with a mash-up of ‘Fire’ by Etta James and the similarly-titled Hendrix
ditty. Playing to all of their strengths
– the funky R&B, Joyce’s vocals, Sayer’s guitar, and the two of them
getting wild out front – they surely make it live up to the title.
No comments:
Post a Comment