Marvin Gaye: Royal Albert Hall, London

MARVIN GAYE'S music, which in his early days epitomized the high-octane energy so consistently produced by that greatest of all pop factories, Motown Records, moved during the last decade towards a more languid style, expressing adult sensuality through a relaxed, improvisatory manner. His high tenor voice, lean and husky yet often trading on an exquisite sweetness, has matured into an instrument of refined expressivity within a narrow but very personal range; the grooves he now prefers are mellow, understated and even less resistible.