The format of the soulful Hammond master Booker T Jones hasn’t changed much in the past 2 score years since his days with the MGs when his band backed the likes of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and Eddie Floyd for Stax Records. And if you’ve got the right cards, why not keep playing a winning hand? Tuesday night at the El Rey Theatre, Jones demonstrated that the rotating review style of presenting soulful strutting works as well during the present day as back then. Soul is soul!
Jones’ format of a three man horn section, bass, guitar and drums, while not dressed the same as the original shark skinned suited MG’s was still able to dig deep grooves on instrumentals like the pulsating “Hip Hug Her” and “Feel Good,” and by the time he dug deep into the red clay to deliver a dry rubbed rib take of the smoking classic “Green Onions” with his son Ted on guitar, you realized that these instrumentals not only sound better than ever, but say more than 90% of the misogynist garbage that passes for R&B these days. Blue Eyed soul singer Jay James joined the band with a hint of Al Green in his tone and wooed the crowd with a gloriously agonizing take of “These Arms of Mine.” All that was missing was take out from The Rendezvous.
Poncho Sanchez then hopped up stage with his myriad of congas and turned the theatre into Cruise Night in Van Nuys with the band on “66 Impala” and a take of “Soul Rebel” that registered a 10 on the “Oh, Yeah” factor. American Idol finalist Joshua Ledet stepped up next and brought the crowd to its feet as he growled through a searing and sweaty reading of James Brown’s “This is a Man’s World.” Just when you think nothing else could take you high, who else but Bill Withers comes on stage to cajole with Jones and introduce his lovely daughter Kori on a gracious pop duet with the baritone crooner on “Watch You Sleeping” and then on her own in a definitive take of her dad’s “Ain’t No Sunshine.” A playful duet between Leticia and Booker T was coy and cute, setting the stage for Anthony Hamilton to keep the mood to be wooed with “Gently” before going back to the roots on a penetrating “Dock of Bay.” By the time Booker T closed the set with his signature song, you not only felt that “Time Was Tight,” but so was the music this cooking summer night at the El Rey.