Concert Review: Molly and the Chromatics, Tuning Fork, 11 December 2020

Stax, Skatalites, Motown and Cool Seventies Soul Jazz. Molly and the Chromatics take the Tuning Fork stage and it’s a brand-new air-mobile that they take through its paces. Resonating with the many elements that comprise present-day Soul. Powerful motor with some hideaway wings.

Molly Rowlands is the diminutive lead singer and flautist. With Mad People she leads the charge with flute. A nice Soul Jazz voice with just the right amount of grit in the velvet. The saxophone and trumpet player immediately come in and lay down classic Ska to Rocksteady Dancehall riffs and accents and keep it up all set long. Tom Taylor on keyboards, George Edgar guitar and bass and Sam Horgan drums.

Close to capacity audience and it doesn’t take long to get the many different grooves weaving a dance spell.

Frank Booker as DJ has been laying out cool Seventies Soul with Funk. Bongos, Disco, Afro Beats heavy on the Nigerian Ju-Ju sound. Playing around each band sets tonight.

Krispy and the Pooch

Interesting duo is Krispy and the Pooch. They perform Hip-Hop and Rap and have feet firmly grounded in Old School. Kriston Batistic and Simon Townsend. They needed the thump beats to drive out the rats from their student dive flat in a wealthy suburb when they first began, they have claimed. Some things don’t change quickly. Reminds me of my younger days when Rap was forcing its way between the cracks of Punk and New Wave. Luxury. Used to dream of a crumbling rodent-infested villa in Remmers.

Holding On is equal parts Rap and soft Soul crooning. But Krispy also drops I got the blues, baby/ Rhyming like Dr Seuss. Pooch is behind the turntables and devices but he also plays some saxophone solos.

Drop the Needle is Jazz drenched too, with the saxophone leading off. Repeated short riffs like the JBs. Light-hearted playful vocals.

The next one sounds R’n’B to Blues as harmonica riffs are played by Krispy. The beat is slowed and becomes Funky. Vocal effects as if coming through a Leslie speaker. A guest singer in dreadlocks has joined the stage. Contemporary Rap and they work this to good effect.

The beats and rhymes get faster. Medium pace Rap. Some of the Soul vocals get a little flat on stage.

Towards the end and they are toasting, Reggae Dancehall style. An Old School reboot and the groove is locked in.

Molly & The Chromatics

The show tonight is a launch for the Chromatics’s new single Hold Tight. A great Seventies Soul heading to Disco dance groove. With a good solid Funky but Chic bottom. Bigger butt than on the single. Don’t tell me what to do/ Don’t tell me what to say/ Gonna do it my way, anyway.

Molly also mentions the Covid Year and gives thanks to everyone for being with them tonight. I take inspiration from those lyrics. Music is Art and Vision and Clarity.

Magic Wonder. Slower with malevolent short bass guitar riff jabs. James Brown later in the Sixties when the violence and burning in America was peaking. The bass carries this song on stage tonight. Vocals kept minimal and low. Funk wah-wah guitar solo steals it at the end.

Pick the tempo up with Expectations. Faster Funk and swings with a great loose and cool rhythm. Finishes with a flute flourish.

Goddess is also a single released this year and is an opportunity for Molly to shine on her lower vocal register. The band work this one and expand out from the recording. The drums start with a slow march. You’re a Goddess girl/ Bold and brave/ Divine, you’re in all of us.

Straight Lines and the band get to add their Jazz chops. A fluid solo from the guitar. Saxophone and then trumpet excel with Herb Alpert accents. Cool soulful singing which carries on to the next one. Proximity reaches back to classic Sixties Motown female leads.

Come back to encore with Sex Jazz Vibes. The foreplay is slow. Builds, and then they head towards Free Jazz with wild elements and dissonance.

Impressive, soulful and sexy. A night of great grooves, polished and disciplined. How a great live Soul Revue is defined.

Rev Orange Peel  

Click any thumbnail to view a full-size gallery of each artist. All photos by Rachel Webb.

Molly and the Chromatics

Krispy and the Pooch