Pee Wee Ellis & Fred Wesley Funk All Stars
Posted on: 2014-03-09
Our rating:
Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival 2014
It's hard to believe Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley are both in their seventies. I definitely hope I have so much character when I'm in my seventies, cracking jokes and teasing each other like they did. Granted, I won't ever have the soulful gravelly voices they both have, but boy did they have soul!
The two 'men who invented funk', as the brochure hails them to be, entered the stage so casually, accompanied by Gareth Williams on piano/organ, Mark Mondesir on drums, Gary Winters on trumpet, Laurence Cottle on bass, and Tony Remy on guitar.
As former members of James Brown's Revue, Ellis and Wesley know performing like the backs of their hands. And not only are they experts of that, they move and breathe funk, soul, blues, jazz, and pure effortless musical talent.
The band pretty much launched straight into improvised solos on their instruments, going around the musicians for their times to shine. But while some performers only give their musicians one or two moments of improvised glory to show what they're really made of, Ellis and Wesley couldn't get enough of their musicians, almost showing off how incredibly talented their team was on Saturday night.
Between performances of each piece, Ellis and Wesley liked to relax, showing off their personalities, letting out the chuckles of men for whom this is what they were born doing. They were so at home with this Colston Hall audience that they couldn't help themselves but interact with us, and between each other. We instantly enjoyed them as people, and laughed along with their chatter.
The band in it's entirety never ceased to amaze us, remaining perfectly tight and in sync with one another with ease, it seemed. At one point, Pee Wee Ellis decided to move from his stool, leave his saxophone on its stand, and go and conduct his drummer, bassist, and keyboard player. Not that they needed it, but he evidently simply loves to perform. And yes he did sing us all his own renditions of some James Brown classics, alongside vocals from Fred Wesley and Gary Winters.
None of the audience could keep still, and it would have worried me if they could have with all the rhythm the pair immersed us in. On numerous occasions they also encouraged interaction with us, making us more-than-willingly sing along, or sing our own parts to their songs. And yet even when we as an audience performed our 'solos' on the tracks, the musicians played precisely in sync their parts in response, no matter how randomly we sang in chorus. At one point they also brought other musical guests out to join in with all the talent and fun they were clearly having.
Towards the end, inevitably out came the James Brown classics including Chicken, which went down a treat, songs which Pee Wee couldn't resist but mention he wrote for the legend all those years ago. And having left the stage at the end, both us and them knowing they would return for an encore, they finished the night with perhaps James Brown's most famous song, a version of 'I Feel Good' slowed right down into a blues-style rendition, enhancing the sheer joy they felt in playing it, and the iconic nature of the song itself.
We left in awe. Both at the incredible talent and performance we had just been hit with, but also at what an incredible journey of a life the pair have led, and still they can't stop themselves travelling the world and doing what they love, even in their seventies. A lesson to us all. 5/5
Reviewed by Maria Skinner for 365Bristol
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
