Levitation Orchestra
Levitation Orchestra's sound is a potent cocktail of uninhibited energy and elegant exploration, bound together by an egality of interwoven
This was my sixth visit to Chapelfield Gardens to listen to live music during this year' Norfolk & Norwich Festival and, whilst I thoroughly enjoyed all the previous acts that I had seen, what I was really yearning for was either some really cool jazz or an evening of infectious dance rhythms, something to get my body moving and the feet tapping. Well, it seems that all my wishes came true last night when eleven-piece South London experimental jazz ensemble Levitation Orchestra arrived to play in the Adnam's Spiegeltent,
Formed in 2018 by trumpet player and musical director Axel Kaner-Lidstrom, Levitation Orchestra has grown to become a vibrant new force on the contemporary jazz scene. From the ranks of their collaborative ensemble a total of eleven musicians are crammed onto the Adnams Spiegeltent stage tonight. Kaner-Lidstrom heads up one side, along with James Akers and Ayodeji Ijishakin on sax, and also a keyboard player. Opposite them are vocalist Plumm, flautist Lluís Domènech Plana, cellist Emma Barnaby and, on electric harp, Maria Osuchowska. Tucked away towards the rear are Paris Charles on guitar, Harry Ling on drums and Hamish Nockles-Moore on double bass. All eleven are equal partners in this unique collaborative project, with each one bringing their own ideas and providing compositional input.
The first half of the performance features music from their critically acclaimed second album 'Illusions and Realities'. Under the direction of Kaner-Lidstrom tracks like 'Life Is Suffering /Send and Receive' and 'Spiral (Die, Die, Die)' become a balanced musical construct of shared ideas, individual contributions, and freestyle improvisation. Levitation Orchestra's sound is a potent cocktail of uninhibited energy and elegant exploration, bound together by an egality of interwoven ideas. It is a collage of jazz, soul, gospel, folk, classical and prog. The result becomes an explosive mix of rhythm and virtuosity, Plumm's vocals providing an exotic blend of scat, soul and jazz, her voice a velvety mix of Nina Simone, Astrud Gilberto and Cleo Laine.
The second part of the set showcases new material from upcoming release 'Sanctuary', and has clearly been influenced by both the pandemic and the politics of mass migration and displacement. And yet, there are still moments of frantic abandon to be found, with urgent percussion and driving double bass harmoniously balanced by chilled harp fed through an effects box, and a clever spoken-word / vocalised duet between Akers and Plumm.
Most of the audience are already under the Levitation spell by the time we get to the encore, but the Spiegeltent's wooden floor is subjected to a pounding as Kaner-Lidstrom orders us to jump with the band, and we dutifully obey. This may be the first time that Levitation Orchestra have played Norwich, but judging from their reception here tonight, it will not be the last.
