Saturday night: JC Brooks And The Uptown Sound

When Chicago theater junkies get together and form a band, the live gigs are something, well, theatrical. Such is the case for JC Brooks And The Uptown Sound, which counts among its members a Porchlight Music Theatre alum and the assistant director of Second City mainstage production America: All Better! The shows all start the same way: Guitarist Bill Bungeroth introduces each member of the group, then brings JC (Jayson Brooks) to the stage under the guise of "The Grandmaster Of Chicago Soul," or something equally hyperbolic. JC bounds to the center of the quartet, suit jacket across his back, and the singing begins.

Any other band would have worn out its welcome by that first note; not these guys. JC's soul-worn, staccato voice—coupled with the funky throughlines of bassist Ben Taylor and drummer Kevin Marks, and punctuated by cutting riffs from Bungeroth—is the stuff anticipation is made of. Brooks himself jumps around, hitting high notes effortlessly and displaying the kind of confidence that demands the crowd dance along. Even slower numbers—like the poppy "Hold You Back," which builds to a quiet, vocally loose cresendo—maintain the rhythm and purpose of some of the best soul ditties.

Their first studio album, Beat Of Our Own Drum, to be released Feb. 28 at the Empty Bottle, maintains the raw charm of those live shows. "Alright," which prominently features each instrument at a different point, includes the call-and-response "Hoo! Hah!" that exits each chorus. "How To Stop Loving Someone Who's Stopped Loving You," an instrumental Booker T–type song, sits in the middle of the album and could be mistaken for the band noodling around while someone tunes a guitar. But mostly, it's all about that first track, "Baltimore Is The New Brooklyn" and the slow introduction of drums, bass, JC's cutting vocals, and a formidable whammy-bar punch-up. There's that anticipation again.

The band performs the titular song, "The Beat Of Our Own Drum," at the Double Door last April: