*On Saturday, August 18, The Miracle Theater on South Market Street in Inglewood was the site for a concert billed as, “An Evening of Jazz and Soul,” which featured Eloise Laws, Ronnie Laws and Tom Browne, with special guest Yakira Ketchens. The theater was the perfect comfortable and intimate setting for the event co-promoted by Chuck Dennis, who I would like to thank for the hook-up. Between him and Owen Smith, the owner, folks were well taken care of, especially in the VIP Section, which offered champagne and food.
Before the evening officially got started, there was non-stop Aretha Franklin music playing, in honor of the Queen of Soul. A few people danced in the aisle. It was an appropriate way to get the evening started, especially since first up was Los Angeles KJLH Radio personality Roland Bynum, the MC for the evening, who mentioned Aretha was part of his family and asked for a moment of silence.
Yakira Ketchens, who was the opening act, provided most of the vocals for the artists. She has a nice voice and began her set doing a pretty fair job of Denise Williams’ “Free.” She is also a percussionist and performed Sheila E’s, “Glamorous Life.” In my best Randy Jackson (American Idol) voice, “It was just alright for me.” She was not awful, just not on Sheila E’s level.
Wayne Linsey, keyboard player, drummer, Music Director and former Maze member, was very entertaining and an amazing keyboard player. He performed a song called “Side Kicking.” Not only does he have mad keyboard skills, which made him fun to listen to, he worked the stage like the pro he is, which was fun to watch. He also played the drums, but it was obvious his specialty is the keyboard.
Eloise Laws came to the stage looking beautiful in a red pant outfit. Although she began her set singing using a cheat sheet, which was very distracting, into her 70’s, she still has the voice I loved listening to decades ago. She performed the Stylistics, “Love Come Easy,” which was okay. I did not particularly care for the song “Love Factory,” but when she performed her hit, “You’re Incredible,” I was all ears. She did not sing it just the way I would have liked, but it was a nice performance.
What can I say about Ronnie Laws that has not already been said a thousand times over the last forty years? The man is BAD! Every song he performed was top notch and perfectly done. He did not miss a beat or a note. Ronnie Laws, who plays both saxophone and flute, at one time had one in each hand, playing them simultaneously. When he performed, “Friends and Strangers” the audience went wild. “Every Generation,” a song written because of his maternal grandfather, a street corner, harmonica player, was also a hit with the audience. Listening to Ronnie Laws never gets old and I’m already looking for another performance.
Before intermission, it was mentioned that Congresswoman Maxine Waters was in the audience; we sang happy birthday to her. Although she left before the concert was completely over, she was present for most of it and appeared to be enjoying herself, even though her constituents bombarded her, which included a countless amount of picture taking.
Tom Browne was last up, after intermission and started by working his way through the audience, trumpet in hand, playing Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo” and it heated up from there. When he performed “Thighs High,” he said not to put it on Facebook because his wife told him not to perform the song. Well Tom, I did not mention it on Facebook. LOL! When Tom was ready to perform Mandela, in tribute to the late Nelson Mandela, the former African National Council Leader and President, there was technical difficulty with the drummer’s headset, which prompted someone in the audience to put the drummer on blast and tell him he will need to deliver; deliver he did. Tom’s set was hot and included an exchange between him and Wayne Linsey (keyboard). Of course his signature song, “Funkin for Jamaica” was the song of the set. His performance did not disappoint. I enjoyed him a lot.
Ronnie Laws’ son, Jaylen, also a saxophone player, was part of the band. Although a decent performer, he is not as strong a saxophone player as his dad and interestingly enough, I noticed he did not play on most of the songs Ronnie performed. He did play with Tom Browne, Eloise Laws and with vocalist Sharon Marie Kline, who had a very powerful voice.
The evening ended with the entire ensemble on stage for Ronnie Laws’ “Always There,” which was performed in tribute to Aretha Franklin, with Eloise saying, “Aretha you will always be there.”
With the exception of Ronnie Laws, Tom Browne and Wayne Linsey, all of the performances could have been better. They were far from awful, but also far from some of the best I’ve ever heard, especially with the band overpowering the vocals on most of the songs.
Although the evening had a good crowd, it was not sold out. I appreciate that there is a local neighborhood venue and hope people will patronize it. There are a few kinks to work through, the parking for one; however, I believe things are right on track for this establishment. You have a chance to check it out for yourself when the play, “Three Times a Lady” is performed there August 24-26.
Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles based writer/reviewer. Contact her via [email protected].
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