Having missed last year’s Le Coq All Star gig here in LA due to contracting COVID, vocalist Andy James and percussionist legend Alex Acuna more than made up for their absence in this return of the label’s concert with a festive 90 minute set that was filled with health, happiness and hep tones.
Acuna, known for his stellar work with Weather Report, as well as his own recent fantastic album, bookended the evening with a couple of sizzling originals. Part of the sizzling rhythm section of Joe LaBarbera/dr, Eric Wheeler/b, Bill Cunliffe/p-key and Bruce Barth/–key Acuna percolated on congas, bongas, timbales and anything that goes bump in the night for an irresistible undercurrent for the horn section of Michael Dease/tb, Bob Sheppard/ts-fl and Terell Stafford/tp and guitarist Mike Moreno. The sleek “To Amore” featured Moreno’s pretty guitar lines and Stafford’s bopping horn, all coaxed by LaBarbera’s patented cymbal work, while the earthy “El Madero” was a wonderfully exotic galloping stampede of steam that had Sheppard’s floating flute and Wheeler’s growling trombone gliding over the irresistible pulse, particularly when Acuna and La Barbera climaxed the piece with a avalanche that might take days of road construction to clear away.
For the rest of the evening, Ms. James delivered sophisticated and jazzy versions of tunes from the soul and R&B songbook. Her voice is perfect for this genre, not sweet and saccharine, not thin and fragile, but husky, highly rhythmic and always comfortable with a lyric.
Enthusiastically dancing and prancing on stage between choruses, James used her streetwise voice to perfection on a delicious “Night and Day” while careening around Acuna’s timbales on “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die”. She threw herself into the lyrics on the reflective read of “Walk On By” and slinked around Cunliffe’s piano on “Born Free”.
Most impressive, however was her take on the more delicate and tender tunes. She and pianist Barth opened up “I Can’t Stop Loving You’ with a rich and luxurious duet before the cirrus clouds of horns wafted in, while the horns served as silk drapery for a clear and penetrating “I’ll Be Seeing You” that also featured a candle lit piano/voice intro.
James then slapped on some dry rub BBQ and gave a greasy take of “Unchain My Heart” with LaBarbera digging a deep shuffle and Cunliffe stomping out some full fisted soloing, before James closed out her set with a boogaloo-ing read of “I Heard It On The Grapevine”, climaxing with the vocalist turning into a flamenco dancer to Acuna’s percussive coaxing.
Like the best riverboat gamblers, James succeeds by not overplaying her hand. She let the cards ride, and for this evening, she had a royal flush.
Upcoming shows at Catalina’s include The Generation Gap Orchestra 02/02, Karrin Allyson/02-03-04, Jane Monheit 02/14-15, Steve Tyrell 02/18 and Orrin Evans 02/21