The Henchmen:
Belinda Voshtina (vocals); Tim Bloomer (guitar); James Carmichael (drums); A N
Other (bass guitar)
(Review by
Ann Alex).
Sorry about not knowing
the line-up properly, but I could see that the personnel were different from an
incarnation reviewed previously in BSH and I hadn’t seen this band before.
Katie Trigger was not on bass - presumably saving herself for her part in Burundanga later.
And when the band kicked
off I wasn't’ disappointed, no way. Belinda sings in an expressive strong voice,
backed by truly competent musicians, playing in an interesting style which
bears the influence of rock as well as jazz, with plenty of solos for the
band. Out spun the numbers such as: Route 66; with the guitars portraying a
journey, a sexy swirling Fever; Ray
Charles’ Unchain My Heart; Georgia;
Besame Mucho; and finally The Thrill
Is Gone.
If I describe the venue,
readers may be able to pick up on the atmosphere of the evening. It’s situated
near the old
Burundanga - Alan
Law (Keys); Katie Trigger (double bass) and 6 others on hand drums, kit,
percussion; guitars, vocals.
I love the way this type
of band begins, by a sort of calling on process, rumbles of drums, whistles,
cymbals shaking, the odd shout, great tension-building stuff. You know this is
to be a wonderful mixture of Afro, Caribbean ,
funk, and tonight there were lots of Latin rhythms, duets, songs with question
and answer, short bursts from band sections in turn, how do they know when it’s
their turn? Can’t name the songs as I recognised only one and the singing was
in Spanish and other languages. I can’t say much more either because I spent
most of the set dancing as did many others – I found it impossible to stay
sitting. One of the later numbers was especially great stuff, beginning with
the girl singer and fast drums at the back, then a build up as others joined
in, lots of us dancing, then a sudden end, just like that.
A thoroughly enjoyable
evening.
Ann
Alex 
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