In just eight minutes, Paul Murtha’s 2019 concert-band medley The Queen of Soul sweeps through four Aretha Franklin anthems—“Respect,” “Think,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and “Chain of Fools”—and reminds us why she earned 18 Grammys, a 2005 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the No. 1 slot on Rolling Stone’s “200 Greatest Singers” list — twice, in 2008 and again in 2023. Murtha keeps the funk-gospel muscle of the original studio cuts but reimagines it for wind band: call-and-response sax lines stand in for the Sweet Inspirations, clarinets voice Hammond-organ pads, and a Muscle Shoals-worthy brass shout chorus sends the rafters shaking. Soul Royalty on Parade The opener, Otis Redding’s “Respect,” became Aretha’s signature demand for dignity when her 1967 version rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Murtha punctuates every “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” with bari-sax low-A growls and knife-edge brass stabs, evoking the fiery Atlantic Records session that birthed the hit. Next comes “Think,” the 1968 empowerment anthem Franklin debuted just as the women’s-rights movement hit top gear; Murtha shifts gear into a hard 16-note groove while alto saxes trade gospel “amens” with trumpets. The temperature drops to a slow-burn simmer for “A Natural Woman,” Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s bluesy ballad that Franklin transformed into a hymn of self-worth in 1967; euphoniums float her falsetto lines above translucent flute harmonies. Finally, we hit F-minor rails for “Chain of Fools,” cut with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section at FAME Studios and powered by drummer Roger Hawkins’ swampy back-beat; Murtha recreates those blues bends with half-valved trumpets and slurred clarinets. Join us and the Queen of Soul at The Old Museum on Sunday August 31st at 2pm. Tickets available via the yellow button below or visit www.kgwo.org.au |
