Local band Fuja bring the funk to Nexus Arts with this tribute show to the raucous joy of a big, noisy horn section. After the eleven members squeeze onto the Nexus Arts stage, the show begins with the bang of a James Brown medley, before journeying through some of history’s greatest funk and soul musicians, including Earth, Wind & Fire, Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder. Fuja’s eleven musicians show great talent and skill for this style of music. The four-piece rhythm section provides a reliable and funky groove as a solid foundation for the band and can’t be faulted. The two vocalists provide spark and joyfully bounce off each other. Hannah Homburg, doubling with her role as producer, brings energy, go-go boots and great vocal dexterity with her impressive riffing; and despite having a tendency to glance at an iPad a little too much during some of the early songs, Philimon Araya is captivating with his soaring falsetto and cool charisma coming to the fore. However, the soul of the show is the horn section. Occupying the front of the stage, all five members show mastery of their instruments and precision in their harmonies, from the riotous riffs of Tower of Power’s What Is Hip to the soulful sounds of Earth, Wind & Fires After The Love Has Gone. And it is the horns that deliver the highlight of the show with an instrumental rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely. The show is tight and well paced, letting the music do what it does best: audiences will leave still feeling the grooves and hearing those great hooks. Just hope for the sake of this reviewer’s neighbours that he resists the desire to pick up his old trombone.