Live Review: Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen

On Tuesday night, Fly By Night got out of the way and let Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen do their thing.

Outside it was a cool calm Fremantle night, but in two substantial sets of Jazz, Funk, Rhythm & Blues And Soul (the title and hook of Cleary's jumping first tune), he summoned the humid heat of late-night New Orleans as only a master of Crescent City rhythm can.

With Cleary, it is always about New Orleans, whether in the lyrics to Frenchman Street Blues or in mentor Earl King's tune Those Lonely Lonely Nights. In Let's Get Lowdown's sweet, familiar bass lines you can hear every night on Bourbon Street somehow stuck in taffy, stretched and stuttering with every chord change.

Cleary worked the keyboard facing his band; they stayed connected as they pumped out the groove. He made an occasional conspiratorial turn to the audience, a sidelong glance to take our temperature or make sure we caught an especially tasty bit before returning to the mic to deliver another little piece of soul.

Nigel Hall's organ wafted through the arrangements; one moment thick and juicy, then sliding into the ethereal or diving into percussive, funky figures. His gorgeous harmonies soared above the mix throughout the night.

Cornell Williams held down the groove on his five-string with incredible energy and precision - there must be something in the water bass players drink in New Orleans - topped with more great harmonies and the hardest working smile in show business.

Drummer AJ Hall was laid-back at times but pushed the whole groove uphill with manic intensity at others. The intricacy, intensity, and precision of his playing would overwhelm if it hadn't already turned your brain off and started you moving. And he can sing too!

As always, Cleary's command of his instrument was complete. He skipped the history lessons he sometimes gives on blues, boogie-woogie and the like, but as his fingers danced across his two keyboards (often simultaneously) the ghosts of James Booker, Professor Longhair and other giants percolated through his playing. To the amazement of many, Cleary also took a tasty turn on a cherry-red Duesenberg guitar for a few tunes, churning out gorgeous rich tones and sorrowful blues leads before settling into some funky scratching.

The Fly's main room was filled with chairs when we entered, but by the end of the night most of them were abandoned by feet too happy to just sit and listen.

The boys crept back on stage for their encore in stages, with the drums and organ laying down a groove that gradually grew into the mind-bending, modulating funk train of Mo Hippa. After two and a half hours of soul, rhythm and blues, and funk, punters, players, and venue staff were all ready to testify to that tune's sound advice:  " Get out the way! Let the Gentlemen do their thing!"