Music / funk
Review: James Morton’s Groove Den, Galli
Here’s a delicious pleasure on the streets of Bristol and all available for free: The Groove Den happens every Thursday at Gallimaufry on the Gloucester Road with James Morton (gigs permitting) at the helm.
This latest session was very aptly named as, whatever the intro, each number emerged as a groove par excellence. This was in no small part due to solid bass duties from Bill Banwell and. especially, the ballistic precision of Craig Connet’s drumming: surely the rhythm partner that Morton has been seeking for years?
The band also included Anders Olinder on keyboards and Alex Hutchings on guitar (and gurning), two foils to Morton’s declamatory alto saxophone who added jazz (Olinder) and rock (Hutchings) to the soulful funk of the bandleader’s compositions.
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It’s a band that is settling down into the ‘knowing’ stage of mutuality, with tunes like Copper Jack’s (a tribute to a former residency down town) and Why Did You F*** Me Over? all showing the instrumental goodies on offer without losing the plot of a fine soulful melody.
An all-too fleeting soulful guest appearance fromTania Lacey, St Paul’s prodigy vocalist and songwriter, sat perfectly in the mix but ultimately this was an instrumental occasion and the tunes spoke for themselves.
Hutchings is a gob-smackingly good guitarist, well matched to Morton’s flamboyance but both players have learned to ration the fireworks and let melodic play dominate.
The result is a tighter performance that was, paradoxically, more relaxed and thoroughly appreciated by a tight-packed and attentive Gallimaufry.
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