THE FATBACK BAND

I'm standing at the Jazz Caf?©, a little tired from the week's exertions and wondering if I could possibly get a good night's sleep and feel better.

The place is rammed and the drums are being hit slowly and deliberately by the man behind the kit. It is a calling to attention of the audience and a welcome to the stage of the band: the Fatback Band. The man behind the drums is Bill Curtis, the founder member and leader of Fatback throughout 35 years of its history. At 72 he should by all rights be enjoying a quiet retirement in Carolina, but instead he's here keeping his distinct tight funky beat. By the end of the first couple of numbers my tiredness is just a memory and I have been bouyed by the sheer electricity of the Fatback performance.