“The definitive UK soul artist” was what it said on the posters being given away outside the venue. Clearly, Lemar Obika has come a long way since he arrived as one of the also-rans on the Fame Academy TV talent show. Four years, six Top Ten singles and 1.5 million album sales later, the singer from Tottenham was in a buoyant mood as he began a four-night residency at the Jazz Café on the day his new album, The Truth About Love, was released.
Sweeping confidently down the steps leading on to the stage, he quickly eased into the mellifluous strains of (All I Ever Do) My Boo. “My every wish is to be with you,” he sang, shamelessly addressing the lyric to the crowd rather than to his imaginary lover, while making eye contact in such a way that it seemed that his mission was to seduce the entire audience one by one.
The occasional shriek from the floor was the only reminder of his instant pop star past, as he proudly introduced us to his elegant, five-woman string section. They certainly lent a sophisticated veneer to the performance as he unveiled a couple of smoochy new songs, Someone Should Tell You and Be Faithful. And Lemar’s voice was out of this world: a strong, agile, soulful tenor which every so often flew into a frightening falsetto at the drop of a hat.
But he had neglected to recruit a bass player or a drummer. A percussionist provided soothing syncopations, with a rather overbearing wind-chimes presence, while the keyboard player supplied the bass parts with his left hand. This was not the way of the great soul revue singers to whom Lemar referred admiringly in his introductions — notably Sam Cooke and Luther Vandross — and as the show progressed, so the lack of a proper rhythm section impaired Lemar’s ability to take either the swing or the funk route. Tick Tock sounded more like a Jack Johnson folk song than the Cooke homage it was intended to be, and Caroline, a ballad that Lemar played on the piano accompanied only by the strings, was too soppy for words. When he called on the band to “step it up” for his biggest hit, Dance (With U) there was a distinct lack of snap, confirming the impression that this was more a performance for the wine bar or the hotel lounge than the serious jazz club stage.
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