Last night I went to James Hunter at the Fine Line. Let's start out by saying "Wow, I hardly have words."
The opening act, Serena Ryder, was singer/songwriter with a great crunchy jazz voice. She reminded me of Sarah Vaughn, especially with her last song Sing Sing. It was a mostly a capella song with clapping (Ryder and the audience) and some fun stomping (Ryder). I believe she's on Blue Note, as she mentioned something about a free sampler. Never did see it after the show.
The crowd was a little on the Babyboomers side so the fact the following comment was repeated several times. "I'm so glad to see a number of young people here. It gives me hope that they can like this (James Hunter) kind of music." At first, I was a little disappointed in them. Why can't the young like 60's soul and blues? They likely had good intentions, but come on. Give some credit to those younger than you. You don't have a corner on the cool market.
Bring on James Hunter. When Hunter and the band took the stage I had to laugh a little as I had inadvertently walked into the club the same time as they had. Fun. From the moment they took the stage, the whole crowd was riveted. I was no exception. Though I picked Hunter's last album People Gonna Talk as one of the best of 2006, I had no idea how good he was live. He played evenly from his albums and the band was tight. He did two covers from the Five Royales and they were as hot as the rest of his set.
The night was simply awesome. Go see James when he comes through your town.
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