From: Jon Freer (jon-freer_at_excite.com)
Date: 2005-06-22 00:34:53
Event Review: Eyes Down Presents Moodymann Live, 17th June 2005, at the Mint Lounge, Oldham St, Manchester.
To call this event ‘Moodymann Live’ was a little misleading, because despite the fact that KDJ acted as compere and took to the stage to perform a few delightful jazzual numbers, and a medley of several clubbier efforts from behind a sheet, the decidedly un-grumpy one took a backseat. Instead, this remarkable night saw the friendly Kenny Dixon Junior let his Mahogani protégés take the limelight. Obsessives of the eccentric Kenneth’s earlier material, released on KDJ, will have been disappointed with the star’s unwillingness to bless the crowd with more from his illustrious back catalogue, but this truly individual evening will have impressed the musically open-minded.
Eyes Down resident Jon K kicked off the evening’s proceedings, dropping low slung Hipped Hopped grooves, as the dark, rectangular shaped and elegantly decorated Mint Lounge slowly filled up. The anticipation of musically clued up crowd was palpable as Kelvin Brown joined his co-host behind the decks to play records that would usually have got hips shaking. However, on this occasion, most people preferred to stand focussing on the slightly raised stage, waiting for the impending extravaganza. Moody’s percussion ace Andrés also appeared behind the decks before showtime, dropping soul-invigorated House, including his own adoring “You’re Still The One”.
The multifaceted live presentation turned out to be a mixture of vividly captivating compositions and attention diminishing relaxed grooves, which made for a succession of intense musical highs and lows. Audience participation came in the form of well received “Manchester…Detroit” chants, and attempts to get the crowd to sing lines back to the vocalists, which fell on deaf ears. Kenny’s initial stage get-up consisted of a wig and a stuffed jumper, as he introduced his musical family in his usual zany manner. Various performers from the Mahogani camp took to the stage throughout the evening, to provide musical accompaniment to each vocalist under the spotlight.
First up was soulful crooner Piranhahead, who contrary to belief, doesn’t really have the appearance of a vicious fish. He sat at his keyboard towards the rear of the stage, from where he performed tracks like the idealistic “Dreams”. He was followed by Nikki-O, a striking artist adorned in gold jewellery and with a slightly Erykah Badu-type buttery voice, whose strongest number came in the form of a call to arms entitled “Revolution”. Taking centre stage decked in stylish shades, bassist Paul Randolph looked ever bit as cool as the Fiddling ghetto soul funkateer he often supports on tour. The highlight of Randolph’s set was the gorgeous falsettoed “About Last Night”.
A silhouette of Kenny Dixon Junior then appeared at the back of the stage hunched over a pair of decks, evoking memories of his last appearance in this city. He drove through a medley of slamming KDJ efforts, including the apocalyptic “J.A.N.”, adding voiceovers at certain intervals. Moments later, Kenny finally took centre stage to deliver tracks from his jazz leaning “Black Mahogani II” project. In star rimmed glasses and a waistcoat, the choice moment here came when he dueted with Nikki-O on the apologetic “Rectify”. The final twist in the tale came when Roberta Sweed took to the stage. The elder stateswoman of the Mahogani camp’s mindblowing voice brought the crowd still present to their knees, as she performed tracks with help from only a piano and Andrés on percussion. It was perhaps a little late for these jazzed out crooning efforts judging by the calls of ‘get on with it’ from listeners, however the finale was certainly worth the wait, with the whole Detroit
entourage joining Roberta on stage to perform the hypnotising “Runaway”. A spine-tingling composition on record, this song ended the night’s singular live spectacle in a fine fashion.
A radiant Kelvin Brown shared deck duties for the final three quarters of an hour with a patient Mr. Scruff and a relaxed Andrés. Music lovers who stuck around were rewarded with sonic delights such as Model 500’s startling “No UFO’s”, Mos Def’s delightful “Umi Says” and a heap of electroid body shakers and technoid thumpers. The turntable loving threesome provided the crowd with a chance to boogie that they’d not been afforded during the majority of the live performance, and brought the evening’s proceedings to a close splendidly.
Jon Freer(jon.freer_at_gmail.com)
*Website: www.mosoul.co.uk.
*Mo'soul Publicity: Variety of services offered:
contact for further details.
*Freelance journalist.
Publications include -
Keep On Magazine
Blues & Soul Magazine
XLR8R Magazine
City Life Magazine
Inner Loop Magazine
littleplanet.net
pitchadjust.com
beyondjazz.net
deephousenetwork.com
skansen.no
_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!