Unsteady in his rocksteady moves? Martin Longley checked out one of London’s rising retro combos.

The Delegators
Hare & Hounds
September 4th

When did ska turn into rocksteady? When did that transitional form become reggae? And just where does bluebeat nestle?

None of that matters much when the dancefloor’s full, and The Delegators are demonstrating their abundant retro re-creation abilities, pumped up directly from London. Besides, they’re not averse to trimming their edges with jazz and soul elements, with most of the songs being self-penned, after the style of the times, principally the mid-1960s. Together for six years now, nearly all of their numbers are sprightly uptempo trotters, singer Janet Kumah fronting in the ultimate sense of the word, with a star-quality slickness.

Her powerful voice acts as a bold communication link with the audience, dance gestures precisely honed for meaning, and married with exact timing to the music. Kumah manages to make all of this appear perfectly natural, so capitalising on a spontaneous feel, even though it’s clear that these Delegators play and rehearse with great regularity.

Most of the members also provide charged backing vocals, topping off the tightly chopping lightness of their tenor saxophone, organ, guitar, bass and drums. Kumah is personable, but also a touch bossy, as she urges the crowd into singing, clapping and moving forward, but when she takes a break from the stage for a pair of instrumentals, the void is very noticeable.

Some of the songs from the Delegators debut album are notably catchy, not least the title track All Aboard, along with Trouble and I Didn’t Mean To Break Your Heart. The set was probably a tad too short, and both band and audience would probably have benefited from two halves, broken up by a replenishing break.