Music
Jalen Ngonda and MT Jones Bring Their Unique Soul Sound to Brooklyn Made [Show Review]
We caught the fabulous sets from Jalen Ngonda and MT Jones when they brought their unique soul sound to Brooklyn Made.
The path of Jalen Ngonda (Daptone Records) has been long and winding. Born in Baltimore and trained in Liverpool (at LIPA, Paul McCartney’s fame school), it feels like a lifetime since he was playing small venues and festivals across Merseyside. I was championing Jalen in 2016 after watching him perform in front of a tiny crowd at Liverpool’s LIMF festival, likening him to Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke and hailing him as the new voice of classic soul. Interviewing Jalen in a coffee shop on Liverpool’s Bold Steet, I found him shy and very quietly spoken. Difficult to believe that this was the same person who could create such magic onstage. I would never have imagined that eight years later, I would be watching this artist on a Saturday night in Bushmills, Brooklyn, now brimming with confidence and displaying the true makings of a star.
He has brought with him MT Jones. This Liverpool singer-songwriter, vocally, follows a similar path to Jalen. Looking like Tom Holland’s long-lost brother and cutting a ’60s soulboy style, Mikey is promoting his new All I Do EP tonight. Opening with the sublime “I’d Be Lying” before running through the EP. Mikey has the crowd in the palm of his hands. Liverpool acts playing in New York have the advantage of hailing from The Beatles’ hometown before they even start. Mikey tells the audience this is his first visit to America before covering The Beatles’ “And I Love Her” from the A Hard Day’s Night movie. It’s a brilliant version and a shrewd move. This is a very talented new artist who could well be following closely in Jaden’s footsteps.
When Jaden appears, everything falls into place. Unlike the contemporary sports jacket he wore at Brixton’s Cross the Tracks festival earlier this year, Jalen Ngonda is looking sharp in a white shirt and black trousers. This fits with the lusciously retro pink/blue backdrop of the stage at Brooklyn Made and recalls similar soul revue shows that would have been common on Brooklyn Saturdays in the ’60s and ’70s.
He still sounds like Marvin and Sam, but his voice is so much stronger and diverse now, immediately hitting the searing notes of “Rapture” at the show’s start. Taken from his 2023 debut album, Come Around And Love Me, this is just one track that goes to complete a practically perfect album. The production of the album, so close to “What’s Going On”-era Marvin, is painstakingly reproduced on stage, with a magnificent band and backing singers.
Most of the album is covered tonight, and so many of these songs already sound classic (“Give Me Another Day,” “That’s All I Wanted From You,” and the album’s title track, “Come Around And Love Me”) all blisteringly beautiful.
Selected covers punctuate the expected album cuts, notably “Prisoner of Love,” written in 1930 we are told, but made famous by both Perry Como and James Brown, and Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me To Do.” Both of these songs show Jalen’s deep appreciation of the blues and his ability to present them in an irresistible form.
Highlights for me include “What A Difference She Made,” the painfully perfect “If You Don’t Want My Love,” and the Northern Soul-inflected “That’s All I Wanted From You,” which would have felt right at home at the Wigan Casino.
Its incredible that it has taken so long for Jalen Ngonda to reach this point in his career as the talent was there from day one, but he has arrived finally, and his popularity can only increase. Without a doubt Jalen has the most essential voice in soul and the song writing abilities to rival even the most strident of Motown/Stax classics. Tonight, being in Jalen’s company felt like a privilege.
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