Smelly Kitchen is real funky

Q-Bus Leiden, foto: Pascal Lagarde

A Sunday evening in Q-Bus Leiden, a support act that was able to compete with what was to come after. Smelly Kitchen played cool, calm and collected, while making the audience swing their strut. Followers of this blog will have noticed that funk and soul is not something I listen to on a daily, not even on a monthly basis. As if in hardly ever at all. This does not mean that I can appreciate a good funky band live. With a knowledge that does not get far beyond 'Play that funky music', 'A real mother for ya' and '(Sitting on the) dock of the bay', I can't pretend to know much about this music. Setting all that aside, Smelly Kitchen was cookin' in the Q-Bus.

A tight rhythm section with a bass player who became looser by the song, pushing those real groovy bass runs into the music. The suave, warm sounds of an organ that looked like it was beamed in straight from the nineteen twenties, a beautifully constructed sort of secretaire that made sounds and a guitarist who played all the right licks. Wah-wah, up strokes and beautiful gliding chords. On top of this all is singer Boaz Brom, who made his entrée like James Brown or Rick James: The band pumpin' and no singer in sight. Brom has the voice, the moves and the talks. Together Smelly Kitchen may have a strange name but makes people move and happy.

The musical basis is set in the sixties and seventies, the sort of music bands made before things turned disco. Say the guitar of Nile Rodgers but not the beat of Tony Thompson, but definitely James Brown, Otis die dood is and Foxy. From a beautiful soul ballad to up tempo funk, the band has it all down and became better by the song. As far as I could ascertain, they play all originals, as I did not recognise one song, which is a complement.

For one funky ride and a great funky soul party, Smelly Kitchen is your band. Jeff Hershey and the Heartbeats may have more energy, professionalism and showmanship, the memory of Smelly Kitchen was not wiped away by the soul, fpunk, surf, rock revue from Los Angeles and that is probably the biggest compliment Smelly Kitchen can get.

Wo.

More information on the band is on Facebook.