Live Review: Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Jordan Rakei

Soul music is cool again – as it should always be – so there is no end of artists all across the world trying their hand at performing this deceptively difficult style of classic music. That makes those moments seeing a true master of the craft even more special, and tonight we get the real deal.
Local Jordan Rakei and four-piece band get us started with a very slick set of light, breezy funk. Rakei's voice is brilliant and the musicianship of the band is admirable to say the least. If they can figure out how to retain these aspects and put together some more pop-friendly tunes they could be a fresh new act on the national funk scene. Rakei's duet with Georgia Potter is a definite highlight, their two voices working together beautifully.
Charles Bradley struts on stage in a resplendent purple suit, hand-stitched with dazzling sequins, after his band The Extraordinaires warm us up with some solid instrumental soul, and launches into In You (I Found A Love). The crowd is immediately shocked by the disarming voice of the 65-year-old; it's so powerful in its volume, its rich timbre and the grit that's come from years of living and singing hard. The deep groove of The World (Is Going Up In Flames) and Lovin' You Baby gives way to the loose You Put The Flame On It, which brings some of Bradley's finest dance moves out for the first time tonight.
He takes a breather, we get a couple more instrumentals, and then he comes back in a darker suit, which signals a darker turn in the music. Confusion is a straight ahead rock-soul banger straight out of the '70s psych-funk playbook, while How Long is darker and deeper still. Bradley's voice is one of the best in soul music – from any era – and if that sounds hyperbolic, go and see him and then tell us we're wrong. Some songs are so impassioned that you feel the pain in every word Bradley's gruff voice projects, while the sweet and rough dichotomy in songs like Strictly Reserved For You is a different and very appealing component.
On top of his incredible talent, he's also an incredibly endearing figure; there's a certain simplicity to everything he says that makes everything feel so heartfelt and genuine. He exults towards the end of the show the importance of love, and it all makes so much sense. He professes his faith, but never sounds preachy, he's just a man trying to move people to be better through his music. Tonight's show proves that he deserves every success, no matter how humble, he has in that regard.