In recent years there has been an explosion of jazz acts coming
through to the mainstream, and the genre is legitimately one of the most
fertile and prolific in today’s UK music scene. I for one know that even
outside of London, in places such as Sheffield, jazz is flourishing and garnering
a lot of support. From sax player Kamasi Washington’s work with Kendrick Lamar,
to the Mercury-Prize nomination of Brit jazz quartet Dinosaur, jazz is suddenly
everywhere. A couple of weeks ago, many tuned in to the coverage of the
Cheltenham Jazz Festival, while in London, hundreds queued up at the Roundhouse
in Camden, which was hosting the first ever one-day Love Supreme event (a
prequel to the full Love Supreme festival taking place in Sussex at the end of
June). I was lucky enough to be in attendance. This was a day of idyllic grooves
and a celebration of the breadth of talent in contemporary jazz from across the
globe, with familiar names such as Cory Henry playing alongside fresh,
newly-formed jazz outfits.
Be sure to grab your tickets to the full festival [HERE]. Acts playing include the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire, Elvis Costello, George Clinton, as well as new acts such as Mr Jukes (again), Tom Misch, Songhoy Blues, and Ezra Collective.
Written by // Richard Maver
@richmaver
The
venue was able to capitalise on the glorious sunshine, opening up the roof
terrace to host the EZH stage which saw Soccer96, for example, delight the
crowd with their psychedelic synth and drums. Bringing the contemplative
head-nodders out of their comfort zone with a set blending prog rock combined
with polyrhythmic hard jazz, they also incorporated an earnest sax player
shouting about world peace. It is musicians like these who are today’s avant-garde, masterfully developing on the notions of ‘pure’
jazz.
And so, to the main Roundhouse stage, where there was slightly
more space to enjoy the grooves, I began my evening with sax and drums trio
Moon Hooch, who are a product of the New York busking scene, cutting their
teeth on the reactions of those indifferent. Their set, which was based on
beats undercut with lashing techno, repetitive hooks and saxophone was triumphant
and encapsulated all that is nu-jazz. Recently released track ‘Acid Mountain’
sent the crowd into ecstasies. What was refreshing was the outfit’s swagger –
even the insertion of an enormous traffic cone into the baritone saxophone was
welcomed by the audience (a mix of old and new).
A
highlight of the evening was the joyous, riotous shindig orchestrated by
multi-Grammy-winning US singer and keyboardist Cory Henry (of the jazz
collective Snarky Puppy), and his Funk Apostles. Outside of his charismatic
stage presence and audience interaction, he navigated his band through some
classic covers – from ‘Stayin’ Alive’ to
Prince’s ‘Controversy’.
True, it would have been interesting to have more original Cory material, but due
to time constraints, this was not possible. However, the sheer pride this
musician takes in crafting his live shows is unrivalled and contagious. I don’t
think I’ve seen so many people dance with random people in Camden before the
hours of 9pm.
Interspersed
between frequent trips outside to top up my vitamin D levels and the bar for
another kind of top of, the atmosphere around the place was electric. Not only
were the acts working around amongst the punters, there were films on show
(such as ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, a film depicting the life and times
of Gil Scott-Heron). However, there is no doubt that the headline act Mr Jukes
(aka Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman) is a crate digger extraordinaire. His ability to adapt and mix all styles
of music to historic eras (such as jazz) and modernism is phenomenal. Here, he
melded disparate influences and genres together into a captivating first solo
album ‘God
First’ (2017). Despite following the panache and swagger of
Cory Henry, where Steadman seemingly had little interaction with the Roundhouse
audience, he twiddled his modestly on his bass in a manner that felt dominant
with the vigour of the session musicians which surrounded him. With Steadman often
blending into the background, the set was refreshing as it highlighted the
talents of his group (including three singers) and the power of the genre. They
let the music do the talking. Running through almost every song off the debut
album, alongside some cult classics like Lauryn Hill’s ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’, Steadman and co. brought the conservative sounds
to the foreground. Despite my personal love for the album and the show, let’s hope
Mr Jukes’ next record brings out the real soul and not just Steadman’s record
collection. Regardless, the set was a worthy microcosm of the general ethos of
the Love Supreme event - a melting pot of genre-defying music. Let’s hope this
becomes an annual event.
Be sure to grab your tickets to the full festival [HERE]. Acts playing include the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire, Elvis Costello, George Clinton, as well as new acts such as Mr Jukes (again), Tom Misch, Songhoy Blues, and Ezra Collective.
Written by // Richard Maver
@richmaver