Gig review: The Blind Boys of Alabama/Bettye Lavette

Published on Monday 24 January 2011 19:23

THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA / BETTYE LAVETTE GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL ****

AS PART of this year's gospel strand, Celtic Connections reached for the big guns on Sunday night, and veteran ensemble The Blind Boys of Alabama obliged in taking the Concert Hall audience to church.

Their special guest Bettye Lavette, 65 years young, didn't acquire her vocal chops in church but in clubs on the chitlin' circuit – the string of venues in the eastern and southern US that were considered safe for African-American musicians during segregation. She is a born R&B performer. There is no denying the power of her vocal, which was sensitively backed by her blues rock band, and the magnetism of her moves, but in changing the melodies of her cover material, radically in some cases, she sometimes chewed up the songs, sacrificing them to the overall performance.

The Blind Boys were utterly joyous and gutsy from the get-go, stirring up a revival meeting richness on the harmonies whether performing the traditional gospel tune Up Above My Head or rendering Toots & the Maytals' Peace, Perfect Peace as a soulful doo-wop.

They reclaimed the tune of sinner's lament House of the Rising Sun for their version of Amazing Grace, busted moves to the blues boogie gumbo of Spirit In The Sky, got deep and dirty on Tom Waits' Way Down In The Hole and rounded off with a super-funky take on Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground.

This is a well-oiled and choreographed machine, led by Jimmy Carter, a loveable, mischievous old character who, under the watchful eye of a burly chaperone, even went walkabout in the crowd during a powerhouse Pentecostal finale.