Tonight, the Poogie Bell band kicked-off their all-too brief European My America tour, with a solitary UK date at the intimate Pizza Express Jazz Club on Dean Street. Formed of funky drummer Poogie Bell, saxophonist Keith Anderson, keyboard player Bobby Sparks and trumpet player Michael Patches Stewart, the band is to all intents and purposes the Marcus Miller band, with one omission: Marcus.
The band take to the stage, with a brief introduction and rip into Breezeworld from Poogies last album Get on the Kit, and boy did they set the tone for the night in funky style! Initially confused by the fact that we had Poogie on drums, Michael on trumpet, Keith on sax and Bobby on keyboards, I wanted to know where the funky bass was coming from, as the synth guy was playing some sweet chords on his (Korg or Yamaha didnt get a close look), and some guy was getting down and dirty on the bass. Was it really the keyboard player? Yes, indeed it was, and for the record he wasnt playing some simple walking blues style bass-line.
With the opener out of the way, Poogie introduces the band, including keyboard player Bobbys nickname of octopus, which I think we all fully appreciate at this point. One Note Charlie comes next taken from his most recent album My America. To say that this song had a strong injection of funk would be a serious understatement, so much so that on getting home I tried to find the song, but couldnt recognise it! One thing that was starting to become abundantly clear at this point was that Poogie believes in democracy, with each player being given a chance to shine, with Bobby shining the brightest in this particular case, and getting a massive round of applause at the end of his part.
Along with Marcus Miller, the band have played/ recorded with the likes of Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, Roy Hargrove, Stanley Clarke, David Bowie and even Kanye West, so it will come as no surprise when I tell you this band was TIGHT! And this was their first gig together unbelievable, but a great testament to the skill and vibe of these four players.
Democracy ruled again for the third number XTC, taken from sax player Keith Andersons recent album Lets Roll. The name hints at a psychedelic sound, and thats exactly what it had, interspersed with a nice little groove change, where they would swing for a few bars nice touch. This was Keiths song, and his moment to shine and shine he did, along with some nice muted (and effected) muted trumpet from Patches.
Maputo saw Poogie switch to mallets, for a quite lovely slow groove version of the song Maputo, written by Marcus Miller (recorded by David Sanborn and Bob James). Watching the band, I caught Bobby flashing a dont come in yet look to trumpet player Patches, and Patches did as he seemed to be indicated, only for Bobby to start laughing. One-nil to the guy on keys!
God Save the Queen was what Poogie excalimed to end the first set. After a wee while, the band return and launch into the song Redd Foxx. Wow! Now that is how you open a second set with some style, the whole band were on fire, with Poogie playing some of the grooviest vibes youll ever hear from someone on brushes. Bobbys bass-line was dirty for most of the numbers up to now, but it just got filthy for this number, and would not have been out of place on a Funkadelic track.
Herbie Hancocks rather nice 1974 track Butterfly, was next up, and all I can say is; wow. Keith and Patches paired-up flawlessly on this number, and they did a really great rendition.
Sparks taken from My America, written by Poogie and Bobby Sparks was the official end of the set, and featured a guitar solo by the keyboard player complete with guitarists grimacing face, with Keith taking to the Moog (think thats what it was) for bass duty.
Obviously, they werent going to leave us without an encore, so Poogie instructed Bobby to take us to church, and that he duly did, with some gospel chord stylings leading into the Miles Davis number Tutu (written by Marcus Miller), with Bobby again ably handling both the orchestra stabs with his right hand, funky bass with his left. This number clearly suited Patches down to the ground, as his sound closely resembles that of Miles Davis.
Rounding-off a perfect night was Pass the Tea, written by Keith Anderson, taken from the album Abstract. This was a really sweet number and showcased Keiths ability to extract great tone and sound from his tenor sax.
Getting to meet the band at the end, and get a few CDs signed was the icing on a tasty cake and is something I really love about the Pizza Express Jazz Club.
If you get a chance to see the band either on their short European tour, or any other future date, I really recommend you do. Their European tour takes them to Germany, a date in Austria, Bulgaria and a few others over the coming days.