A sizzling take on blue-eyed soul

February 10, 2006|Linda Laban, Globe Correspondent

CAMBRIDGE -- Move over Van Morrison and Mick Hucknall. Make room for another purveyor of British, blue-eyed soul: James Hunter, a new name in the somewhat anomalous niche of UK-bred classic R&B, who fronted a sizzling sold-out show at the Lizard Lounge on Wednesday night.

Hunter is no baby-faced rookie. He and his superb band -- stand-up bass, drums, tenor, and baritone sax -- looked seasoned from years of knocking around the pub circuit. And Hunter's first American release, ''People Gonna Talk," out on Rounder March 7, marks his third overall. With a throaty, cracked croon that's a ringer for Sam Cooke and a red-hot squeal to rival James Brown, Hunter led the soulful boogie of ''Talkin' 'Bout My Love" and the snappy little cha-cha ''Don't Come Back" with a passion that seemed effortless. But Hunter's good fortune to be born with a voice that echoes the soul greats -- and a personality to carry it off -- was bolstered by the chops of his excellent band.

''Got room to dance?" the Colchester, Essex, native asked the packed audience midway through the set, just before launching into the spicy ''No Smoke Without Fire." ''Maybe not. Just listen aggressively then."

The tempo slowed for the sultry blues of ''Mollena," a classic torch song. But a real high point was the sublime title track from ''People Gonna Talk." Stepping away from the swinging Latin rhythms that had dominated the set, the song hit a hypnotic rock steady groove, with the saxophonists blurting in unison, forming a perfect counter beat. It was during his blistering older rocker, ''Believe Me Baby," that Hunter unveiled a secret weapon though. The natural wonder of Hunter's voice was quite something, as was his great band. And the classic cut of his songwriting was winning, in a retro, escapist kind of way. But when that song's bridge hit, and Hunter wrenched sounds from his guitar like some soul hepcat on a Thurston Moore kick, that sealed the deal.