Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, and now Stevie Wonder: Three (soul) music titans whose repertoires conductor and arranger Jules Buckley has taken to the BBC Proms. Having premiered his own orchestra at last year’s triumphant Aretha Prom, Buckley seemed a touch more relaxed as he took to the Royal Albert Hall’s stage this year. Though framed as a tribute to Wonder’s epochal Innervisions album – a virtuosic masterpiece which turned 50 this year – the concert was thickened out with other Wonder evergreens to the delight of the sold-out auditorium.
Buckley’s main collaborator for the evening was keyboardist and vocalist Cory Henry, a former member of Grammy-winning jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy and now a compelling solo artist. His mellow, soulful vocals could easily rise to the demands of exposing ballads like “All In Love Is Fair”, while adding rousing doses of church-grown grit to “Higher Ground”.
The concert had only few detractions: under-amplification of backing vocalists and a creative decision to interrupt the very intentional sequencing of Innervisions with other Wonder hits. But Buckley knows how to mobilise his orchestra, delivering an impenetrable “wall of sound” on the angsty “Living for the City”, and extracting the latent funk of “Jesus Children of America”. This oft-overlooked cut from Innervisions was perhaps the highlight of the entire concert.
The evening’s other strength was its multiplicity of voices. Backing vocalist Vula Malinga stepped aside from her chorale to skillfully weave her way through “Creepin'”. Various special guests were unveiled with intention: Laura Mvula on the hymnal “They Won’t Go When I Go”, Lianne La Havas on the anti-Nixon “He’s Misstra Know-It-All” (switching from lilting ease to belting climax), and Quincy Jones’ protégé Sheléa on a vocally-faultless “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”.
After an obligatory rendition of “Superstition” as an encore, Henry surprised the audience with a piano-driven “If It’s Magic” (from Songs in the Key of Life). It certainly was.
3 Comments
What an amazing evening in the company of Cory Henry.
Phenomenal evening.
The whole of the Royal Albert Hall was filled with a cascade of different cultures all joined together by the evening’s soundtrack, orchestra, composer and a wonderful singer Cory Henry.
Thank Royal Albert Hall for the diversity and the vibe
The orchestral arrangements suited the tunes better than I expected. Cory so expressive on the keyboards. I passed Hugh Jackman in the corridor … He would’ve put more feeling into Misstra Know-It-All.
My first visit to the Royal Albert Hall and my first Prom – I will remember and treasure the memory of last night for the rest of my life. And what a night for everyone who was so fortunate to be there! A night that will never be recreated and now exists only in the memory (it’s not on BBC iPlayer, presumably for copyright reasons). Total joy, delight and emotion for the entire audience and the performers too, each feeding off each other to create two hours of “Wonderment” – even the BBC Radio 3 team in the control box opposite were standing, clapping and swaying to the music. At one point I was so moved, when Lianne La Havas was singing “He’s Misstra Know-It-All” together with the amazingly talented and beautiful person that is Cory Henry, that I found tears running down my cheeks – me, a 66 year old white man, transported back 50 years to when he listened for the first time as a teenager to his newly acquired LP treasure, again and again, transfixed by this incredible Stevie Wonder album. Thank you – just thank, to everyone involved in creating last night.