Concert review: Jazz Re:Fest 2016.
Fantastic! Brilliant! Enjoyable! Awesome! These are just some of the adjectives that I would use to describe the event. I have been wanting to go to a jazz festival for a very long time and I have just been. Therefore I can cross that off my bucket list.
The jazz festival took place in the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre. This happened to be the fourth year of this event. It was a great show and what was even better about it was that it was absolutely free. It featured various performers, some who are established artists and others who are looking for a platform to showcase their talents. the event lasted seven hours.
Jazz re:freshed is behind this wonderful festival and is the brainchild of Justin McKenzie and Adam Moses. It began in the summer of 2003 and its purpose was to celebrate jazz music and to bring it out in the open. Jazz music is definitely my favourite kind of music. It is soothing and relaxing and the tunes are amazing. The first time I was exposed to jazz was when my eldest sister's husband was playing the album Move by Earl Klugh. I really enjoyed listening to the tracks and the single Move became an earworm for me. I still love it to this day!
Now back to the festival. The performers were, in running order, Kokoroko, Ashley Henry Trio, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Robert Mitchell's Panacea, Native Dancer, Mark de Clive Lowe, Moses Boyd's Exodus and last but by no means least - Tatham Mensah Lord and Ranks. Between each bands we had DJs playing additional jazz music. They were DJ Mikey Futuristic and DJ Steve Austin (no, neither the wrestler nor the Six Million Dollar Man).
Kokoroko played a series of up-tempo numbers which got us all dancing. The music had a flavour of afrobeat but the three female musicians were playing brass instruments. Ashley Henry Trio featured a double bass player, a percussionist and Ashley Henry himself who was playing the piano. I really enjoyed listening to his music. The third act was performed by a talented cellist who goes by the name of Ayanna Witter-Johnson. I was amazed at how she could sing and play the cello at the same time and throughout her performances she was sweating profusely. She also had a superb singing voice. She ended her show with some choirs and a rapper and revealed that she will release an album soon. Next up was Robert Mitchell's Panacea. He provided the music while a vocalist was singing and even went on to do spoken word. The last four acts were four different bands that played a variety of instruments such as the guitar and the saxophone. I found myself dancing to their tunes.
I would say the first three acts were the best. My least favourite was Robert Mitchell's Panacea. I really liked the final four acts which each brought their own special take on the jazz music genre. I had a marvellous day and I would most certainly go there again next year. I for one would highly recommend it to all lovers of jazz.
For more information on Jazz re:freshed go to www.jazzrefreshed.com.
The jazz festival took place in the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre. This happened to be the fourth year of this event. It was a great show and what was even better about it was that it was absolutely free. It featured various performers, some who are established artists and others who are looking for a platform to showcase their talents. the event lasted seven hours.
Jazz re:freshed is behind this wonderful festival and is the brainchild of Justin McKenzie and Adam Moses. It began in the summer of 2003 and its purpose was to celebrate jazz music and to bring it out in the open. Jazz music is definitely my favourite kind of music. It is soothing and relaxing and the tunes are amazing. The first time I was exposed to jazz was when my eldest sister's husband was playing the album Move by Earl Klugh. I really enjoyed listening to the tracks and the single Move became an earworm for me. I still love it to this day!
Now back to the festival. The performers were, in running order, Kokoroko, Ashley Henry Trio, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Robert Mitchell's Panacea, Native Dancer, Mark de Clive Lowe, Moses Boyd's Exodus and last but by no means least - Tatham Mensah Lord and Ranks. Between each bands we had DJs playing additional jazz music. They were DJ Mikey Futuristic and DJ Steve Austin (no, neither the wrestler nor the Six Million Dollar Man).
Kokoroko played a series of up-tempo numbers which got us all dancing. The music had a flavour of afrobeat but the three female musicians were playing brass instruments. Ashley Henry Trio featured a double bass player, a percussionist and Ashley Henry himself who was playing the piano. I really enjoyed listening to his music. The third act was performed by a talented cellist who goes by the name of Ayanna Witter-Johnson. I was amazed at how she could sing and play the cello at the same time and throughout her performances she was sweating profusely. She also had a superb singing voice. She ended her show with some choirs and a rapper and revealed that she will release an album soon. Next up was Robert Mitchell's Panacea. He provided the music while a vocalist was singing and even went on to do spoken word. The last four acts were four different bands that played a variety of instruments such as the guitar and the saxophone. I found myself dancing to their tunes.
I would say the first three acts were the best. My least favourite was Robert Mitchell's Panacea. I really liked the final four acts which each brought their own special take on the jazz music genre. I had a marvellous day and I would most certainly go there again next year. I for one would highly recommend it to all lovers of jazz.
For more information on Jazz re:freshed go to www.jazzrefreshed.com.
Comments
Post a Comment