The BBC Proms has made a (welcome) habit of honouring Black soul legends in recent years like Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin. This year’s Proms season has turned its attention to ‘Prince of Soul’ Marvin Gaye, whose career traversed puppy love Motown duets, the politically-charged What’s Going On, and the proto-Quiet Storm of 1970s albums Let’s Get It On and I Want You — all of which were surveyed in the evening’s programme notes which, disclaimer, I wrote.

I was recently at the brilliant ‘Prog Rock’ Proms narrated and stewarded by DJ Stuart Maconie, the sequencing of pieces deliberate and intentional. By contrast, this event lacked the same curatorial flair, rattling through songs and ‘eras’ of Marvin with no discernible throughline. This live playlist of Marvin hits — with a couple of left-field entries (‘Sunny’, ‘Here, My Dear’) — was at times thrilling, at others frustrating.

Sadly, a cohort of strong singers were let down by a muddy sound mix which favoured the bigger voices that could battle through. Dense orchestral arrangements, augmented by the backing of the LJ Singers, also left insufficient room for some of these songs to breathe. Gaye’s mid-late ‘70s material fell victim to an excess of glossiness; the sensual ‘I Want You’ felt more schmaltzy than sultry. The duets were underpowered.

But there was still plenty to enjoy: Wayne Hernandez of the London Community Gospel Choir was right in the pocket on ‘Can I Get a Witness’; Vula Malinga, a regular vocalist at the Proms, coloured the finale of ‘Mercy Mercy Me’ with swooping highs; BAELY impressed also on ‘A Funky Space Reincarnation’.

The phenomenal Luke James — performing with a combustible physicality and howling falsetto — carried the show. I was unsure if any performer, however talented, could deliver a song as stylised as ‘Sexual Healing’ without descending into parody. Yet, he tackled the song with the fervour of a gospel sermon. An absolute star.