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Concert Review

Otis Clay

January 30, 2010 @ FitzGerald's

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By Dave Miller

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Otis Clay took his fans to school and church Saturday night into Sunday morning at FitzGerald's.

Clay was introduced as "The Ambassador of Soul" and then showed why he's earned the title over the course of two sets that stretched a total of three hours. Soul greats such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett and James Brown may be gone, but Clay continues keeping the sweat-filled, emotionally-uplifting music alive. He gave a master class in soul to the faithful who filled the Berwyn roadhouse.

It didn't take long for Clay to demonstrate his total command of the stage. On his second number of the night, "When Hearts Grow Cold," Clay stopped his acapella singing in its tracks until the noisy room grew quiet and he had captured everyone's attention, and then he continued. It was one old-school soul lesson in a night full of them taught by a master.

Clay's devotion to the music could be seen on the stage packed with 10 people. Joining him were a bassist, drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, two backround singers and a three-piece horn section. All were dressed in black with the exception of Clay, who sported a brilliant red jacket. His band was with him every step of the way through changes in dynamics, humorous and serious spoken interludes and long medleys. Each musician played with just the right touch and timing, while singers Theresa Davis and Diane Madison echoed Clay's good vibes while contributing impeccable vocals, making a case for themselves as the two best backing singers in the business and at least certainly the best this concertgoer has seen.

Davis and Madison shined in particular on "I Can Take You to Heaven Tonight" before the first set concluded with "Tryin' to Live My Life Without You" -- a song Clay popularized in the 1970s which Bob Seger covered on one of his live albums in the 1980s. That morphed into the closing "Take Me To the River" with Clay and the band brilliantly teasing the line containing the title numerous times before eventually singing it.

In the second set, old-time West Side soulster Cicero Blake fronted the band for a song before joining Clay, who changed into a multi-colored striped shirt, on a blues number. The segment featured lots of funny give-and-take banter between the musicians and audience. As the show bleeded into Sunday, Clay joked that it was time to pass the collection plate so everyone could sleep late. He sermonized some and delivered "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," the title track from his latest album. That set up a a pair of killer, show-closing medleys. "Love and Happiness" into "Soul Man" into "Testify" into "Respect Yourself" wrapped up the second set. Clay returned for an encore of "Amen" into "This Little Light of Mine" into "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" into "A Change is Gonna Come."

The Ambassador of Soul indeed.

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