POP MUSIC REVIEWS : The Heavies: Retro-’70s From London

In the ‘90s, 1970s funk grooves are at least as popular as they were the first time around, powering No. 1 hip-hop singles, pumping up cereal commercials, jamming hip dance clubs around the world. In London, the retro-’70s thing is a little more inclusive than it is in the Southland, extending to the kind of middle-of-the-road jazz grooves that the Crusaders and Ramsey Lewis used to lay down, as well as to the sort of ‘70s clothing that would even look odd on Melrose.

The Brand New Heavies, the latest neo-’70s thing, made their L.A. debut at a packed and sweaty Po-Na-Na Souk on Tuesday. The multiracial London septet was authentically period, right down to their Dyn-o-mite headgear, their soulful, horn section and the chirpy Fender Rhodes electric piano.

People came to the West Hollywood club expecting to hear the great new thing in dance funk; they were left with the impression of some weird, new Grover Washington Jr. revival: moody, modal horn lines spun out over a slick, twitching bottom. There was more jamming than jammin’ , but nobody really seemed to mind, even by the time the fifth long trombone solo came around.

Occasionally chanteuse N’Dea Davenport would pop up, looking rather period-stylish in a silvery dress and Supremes-style hair, and wail a while in her mournful contralto. When she was on stage, her voice lent a funky focus to the band’s fuzzy nostalgia.