Shabaka
From new age noodling to shamanic joy in 80 minutes, Shabaka delivered a mixed bag.
Pavlis
For many years, I suffered from saxophonophobia. The Devil’s Horn had me running to the hills. So, as confrontation therapy, I went to see The Comet Is Coming at NAC a good few years back. They BLEW my tiny, saxphobic mind. The sax player that night was a certain SHABAKA HUTCHINGS and I went on to ravenously consume everything that he did with Comet and Sons of Kemet. Some of his other projects – Shabaka & The Ancestors, solo records – didn’t do it for me in the same way. So, it is with some trepidation that I headed to Epic for the solo show.
I am not a jazz aficionado. Whilst I can appreciate the skill, a lot of it leaves me cold. Music is a personal thing an’ all that. With that proviso, tonight was a mixed bag for me. The playing of Shabaka – on sax, flute, clarinet, keys, electronics and possibly more (was that a dulcimer?) – and drummer/percussionist Austin Williamson was suitably virtuosic. By the gods, these guys can PLAY. The set did take a while to get going, however. The first 40 minutes was a bit too noodly and new agey for my tastes. When the duo got going for the remainder of the set, it was outstanding, uplifting and shamanic.
Opener RORY GREEN was a revelation. Playing nylon strung acoustic guitar and (possibly) live looping himself over a backing track, Green’s set comprised of songs from his forthcoming album Moments Brighter Than The Son. Folk-adjacent, with touches of alt.country and dream-pop, the sound also takes in Ghanaian and Brazilian influences. Some of the passages reminded me of the late, great Michael Chapman, and that is a good thing indeed.
In a cold room, it wasn’t an easy task to warm the crowd up and keep them warm but DJ Amy Nomvula did her best before Green and between sets, with a selection of event-appropriate jazz-adjacent tunes.
