This is CJ Blog post no. 3,000. Blogspot keeps the count, not me, but it's opportune that a big international touring artist should get this post and also that it's someone who is making jazz as it is. I like big bands and swing and bop and modern and the rest, but jazz must remain a mutating art to survive and Kamasi is doing that, with rap, with Thundercat and the like. I'd prefer that the gig was not such a long drive (Carriageworks by the Sydney Central Station) and that it was a little more comfy (standing room only). But this seems to go with the territory. The territory was an 8-piece band touring Kamasi's latest album, Fearless movement, which is itself 1h26m long. Probably the best I got from this was clarity about the music. His albums are layered, complex, immensely busy and I love that, but live, as an 8-piece band, things were clearer. Firstly, there was immense drive, energy, an unrelenting nature. Drums and bass just never mild, all incessant grooves and variations just adding to interest but never weakening forward movement. Drums obviously double pedal as in metal and bass dirty and distorted and big as and sometimes loudly bowed, even to a bowed solo. Kamasi, especially, played on that with long solos, sometimes dissonant, always yearning, screaming. Perhaps keys was similar but he was hard to hear other than in one Moog solo. Then the essential jazz structure was evident: head/melody, perhaps a limited chord structure or just a groove as base for lengthy solos. DJ Battlecat could add to the rhythmic plays electronically, all turntabling or desk effects, or acoustically on percussion and singer Patrice could offer some words sometimes or perhaps a unison with a melody, reminiscent of overlays of vocals on albums, and I think just one balladic song, but mostly offering visual presence to the groove. Bass did that too, although he was far more muscular in his movements. The others mostly perused while not soloing or accompanying. The front line of three - Kamasi tenor sometimes piano; his father Rickey soprano or flute; Ryan trombone - defined the melodies and that was a lovely sound over the driving grooves. There was a pleasant vibe from the band, too, from Kamasi's chatter and interested phone videos and pics of the audience to end and Patrice's gentle interpretations in dance. It felt like good will. Quite a few around me (me too) were moving to this music. And that lovely sense of inviting melody that Kamasi plays with in heads before his strident, raucous solos. His albums are far more obscure, less obviously thus structured given layers of plays and embellishments that don't go live, although there were some recordings on stage, not least to introduce a particularly busy first few bars of his daughter's invention, Asha the first, and quite strangely a rap later in the piece. We were pretty close to stage so saw well but not too sure of the sound, losing voice and keys mostly. Maybe it was our location, although there was a central line array for the "dance" floor. But so be it. And being a modern event we were standing for 3 hours and sadly not really meeting too many of the locals. I heard a suggestion of an arts crowd with a wide range of ages. Maybe. But a great gig and very much enjoyed and not nearly as difficult to attend despite cold and wind and the long drive to Sydney and back. A very worthy gig for CJ's 3,000th post.
Kamasi Washington (tenor, piano) led his octet West Cost Get Down with Rickey Washington (soprano, flute), Ryan Porter (trombone), Patrice Quinn (vox), DJ Battlecat (DJ, percussion), Brandon Coleman (keyboards), Miles Mosley (bass) and Tony Austin (drums) at Carriageworks, Sydney.
This is CJBlog post no. 3,000
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