BBC Proms: Marvin Gaye – Prince of Soul at the Royal Albert Hall

What happens when an exceptional orchestra takes on the music of Motown’s Prince, Marvin Gaye? A full house at the Royal Albert Hall. The BBC Proms tribute night celebrates some of the soul artist’s most famous and essential hits. Conductor Edwin Outwater leads the BBC Concert Orchestra, joined by Luke James, Wayne Hernandez, BAELY, Vula Malinga, CHERISE and the LJ Singers.

The setlist comprises a wide selection from Gaye’s repertoire, picked for their iconic status and for being key to understanding the singer’s creative development, whether for their timely lyrics or their irresistible rhythms, now swinging towards jazz, now taking on funk influences.

Luke James – making his Proms debut tonight – starts with I Heard It Through the Grapevine, a sleek and moving composition. James’s energy is infectious, his singing fervent: he plays around on stage and with the mic as though the music pervades his body, moving fluidly to the rhythm. On Let’s Get It On, as the audience cheers as soon as the first three notes ring out, he playfully acts out a charming exchange with the cellist, sprawling over the conductor’s podium, all while delivering some elegant, ballad-leaning notes. After maintaining a striking falsetto throughout Got to Give It Up, he performs the socially conscious What’s Going On with suave ease, buoyed by the violin and chorus, while midway through the trumpet accents the pauses between the words. Luke then gives his best on Sexual Healing, the first in the encore sequence: his voice is unmistakably smooth, as is his energy.

Revisiting some of the most celebrated duets Gaye wrote for or featured on, the programme includes Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing, sung by CHERISE and Hernandez; Ain’t No Mountain High Enough with BAELY and Malinga, who have literally everyone standing up and dancing to their vivacious rendering of the hit; and My Mistake, where CHERISE and Hernandez showcase powerful vocals.

On Gaye’s cover of Bobby Hebb’s Sunny, at the beginning of the show, Outwater can be seen almost bouncing on the spot, conducting with gusto an orchestra that sounds particularly vibrant. The brass, in particular, boldly enter into dialogue with the voices, as in How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You). Hernandez leads the upbeat Can I Get a Witness, properly surfing the boogie-woogie wave that pours from the score.

Thanks to Gaye’s family, his own voice joins the BBC Concert Orchestra – crisp and vigorous – for Distant Lover. The ensemble comes back together on stage for the final, soulful You’re All I Need to Get By. It’s just the kind of lively concert one needs to get by this scorching mid-August.

Cristiana Ferrauti
Photos: Andy Paradise

For further information and future events, visit BBC Proms: Marvin Gaye – Prince of Soul’s website here.