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Nufunk Festival 2009 - Tribute to James Brown
The famously dingy and somewhat divey El Mocombo on Spadina played host to a crowd of funksters longing to hear their favourite James Brown hits "One More Time"
this past Friday night. Starting off the event, which was a part of Toronto's Second Annual NuFunk festival, was Calgary-based Souls in Rhythm. Although the band
did not play James Brown covers, they promised to show the crowd what "Alberta Funk sounds like". The crowd was sparse when they started their set but the band's
raw energy and upbeat tunes had everyone in attendance tapping their toes or bobbing their heads.
 
The real headliners of the show, however , were Toronto's own Jay Spectre. In keeping with the theme of the night the sextet kept to mostly playing
James Brown tunes spliced with the band's own flavour. By the time the band played Get on Up, the venue was packed with funk fans of all varieties.
Rhythmically speaking, the brass section put forth a stellar performance, nailing every tempo change, shot, trill and squeal in the melody.
Despite the allure of a piccolo solo, and entertaining banter from the lead singer, no night would be complete without some sort of crowd interaction.
This came in the form of a man who referred to himself as "UltraFine", who jumped on stage and moved, grooved and commanded not only the crowd, but the
band as well, in true James Brown fashion. The band closed with a slower, somewhat obscure version of I Feel Good and a homage to the legend himself by
reverently proclaiming, "Rest in Peace, James Brown". Amen.
By Sarah Moore
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