Billy Valentine [Atiba Jefferson]

YOU know you are in the right place on a Saturday night when Radio London DJ Robert Elms, Radio 6 stalwart and record label boss Gilles Peterson and jazz/funk/soul collector and curator, actor Martin Freeman, enter the premises in quick succession. We are all in the house to witness – appropriately enough, given it is Easter weekend – a triple resurrection.

The first back-to-life event is actually the venue. The Forge in Camden’s Delancey Street has been shuttered for some years now but has returned with new décor, sound, lighting, “VIP” balcony area and a very decent music programme (of which more later). And on stage is a sprightly 73-year-old proving there are seconds acts in American lives – certainly in the realms of soul, R&B and jazz. The dapper chap up there is Billy Valentine, once of the Valentine Brothers who had some success with Money’s Too Tight to Mention, although it was Simply Red who picked up the baton and sprinted up the charts with the song. Billy has kept a low profile for decades, but with a new album making waves and a fresh celebrity fan base you’ll be hearing much more of him over the next few years.

The record, Billy Valentine and the Universal Truth, is on the third come-back of the weekend – Flying Dutchman. The original label was set up by producer Bob Thiele (John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Ornette Coleman) and was home to the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, Lonnie Liston Smith and Gato Barbieri. I have a soft spot for it because the first ever jazz record I bought was on Flying Dutchman – Larry Coryell’s Barefoot Boy.

In truth, it’s not a great album, although it has its moments, but I was intrigued enough by the whole package to seek out more Bob Thiele productions. It was, to say the least, an eccentric label, with recordings by the first black mayor of Cleveland and Angela Davis as well as infamous groupies The Plaster Casters. Albums often had an overt political edge and Billy Valentine’s record continues that tradition by choosing mostly covers of “protest” songs by the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, Stevie Wonder and even Prince (Sign O’ The Times). Produced by Bob Thiele Jr, it is a very strong album indeed. But could Billy V cut it live?

From the moment he launches into the falsetto of Curtis Mayfield’s We People Who Are Darker Than Blue, you can tell his pipes are in excellent nick. The band are tight too, which is remarkable because, as the affable singer says, “we only met yesterday”. It’s a pick-up group, rather than the A-listers who played on the record, but they acquit themselves admirably. As does the leader.

The majority of the set is drawn from the record, my only disappointment is the absence of yodelling from The Creator has a Master Plan (Flying Dutchman singer Leon Thomas’s theme tune) but I am probably alone in that – certainly the audience laps it all up.

The encore is, of course, Money’s Too Tight to Mention and Valentine throws himself into it like he’s only just learnt it and he ends the evening running into the audience for a little celebratory boogie. Seventy what?

Billy Valentine is a revitalised force and so is The Forge. It’s a real fillip for Camden to have a new (or returning) music venue when so many are closing around the country. The programming is eclectic, but if jazz is your thing, you’ll be well served by the likes of fiery saxman Binker Golding (May 11), veteran jazz-rockers Colosseum (May 24) and the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra (August 10 and 11).

• Billy Valentine and the Universal Truth is on the Acid Jazz/Flying Dutchman label: http://www.acidjazz.co.uk