Bobby Womack at the Jazz Cafe

Bobby Womack, who started a four night run at a packed Jazz Cafe last night, has been around since the very beginning of soul music in the early sixties. Discovered by Sam Cooke while part of the Womack Brothers gospel group, he and his brothers recorded successfully as the Valentinos for Sam's SAR label. He controversially married Sam's widow Barbara shortly after Sam's death and embarked on a solo career which was to lead to a string of best selling albums including Communication, Understanding, The Poet and The Poet II. Another later album was entitled The Last Soul Man which, with other contenders falling all the time, could prove to be prophetic.

Now 67, Bobby looked frail however and said that he had recently had an operation which affected his balance, but his voice was as strong as ever. Dressed all in white, in contrast to the black clothing of the band, he kicked off with Stylo, a recent collaboration with the Gorillaz, and then moved into more familiar, and to my ears, much better material with the rolling rhythms of Across 110th Street, Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out and Harry Hippie. Backed by his full American band, cramped onto the tiny Jazz Cafe stage, along with singer Altrina Grayson, Bobby continued a solid set with later songs including Daylight, the 80s hit I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much, That's The Way I Feel About Cha, Woman's Gotta Have It and Stop On By, before going back to his roots with Sam's A Change Is Gonna Come and the Valentinos' Lookin' For a Love. Moving smoothly through If You Think You're Lonely Now, he slowed things down with the Soul Stirrers gospel song Jesus Be A Fence Around Me, before finishing off with the great I Can Understand It, I'm Through and, as an encore, his 1968 version of Fly Me To The Moon.

Altogether this was a satisfying show if lacking in the sort of deep soul feeling of previous Bobby Womack concerts. But it's always a thrill to see a great soul singer in the flesh, and Bobby is certainly one of the greats.