With the backdrop of the beautiful Hackney Church, Grammy award winning London jazztronica duo Blue Lab Beats storm through a triumphant set. Expanded to a full band line-up, they’re on top form and seem genuinely humbled by the large and enthusiastic audience that that has turned out to see them.
Producer and one-half of the duo NK-OK tells the crowd “there are one thousand of you here! Our last headline show was at Ninety One Living Room, which is like 250 people”. Warmth, joy and a sense of celebration permeate the whole night, including the sets of the two fine support acts.
Proceedings were ably kicked off by fellow Londoner DoomCannon. The keyboardist and producer’s soulful yet funky set gets things off to a flying start. His band features Kaidi Akinnibi, who later returns to the stage as part pf the Blue Lab Beats’ live band.
Second up are the genre-busting party machine that is TC & The Groove Family, performing here as a nine-piece without their regular turntablist Nik-Nak. Their sound is big, bold and can’t help but get the crowd moving. Afrobeat and Latin influences collide with contemporary jazz and hip-hop. MC Franz Von has a commanding stage presenceand delivers his smooth buthard-hitting flows over the top of a maelstrom of instrumentation. Two guitarists, a three-piece brass section a bassist and two drummers, give the collective a hefty and versatile sound.
Amid a lively and energetic set form TC & The GF, the tracks Stand Strong and Blessed from their recent We Have Each Other EP hit particularly hard. Following their set, the audience is primed and ready for the main event.
Silhouetted against a wall of light, NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist Mr. DM take to the stage. They’re joined for the set by a well-oiled machine of band featuring Kaidi Akinnibi on saxophone, Grifton Forbes-Amos on trumpet, Isobella Burnham on bass, vocalist Orla Rae and drummer LOX.
The band powers through tracks from recent album Blue Eclipse and its predecessor Motherland Journey, the Fela Kuti sampling title track of the latter record provides one of the evening’s many highlights. The multi-skilled Mr-DM ably shifts between keyboard and guitar throughout the set. NK-OK leads interaction with the crowd while he taps out electronic beats on his drum machines, complimenting the work of excellent sticks-man LOX.
Kaidi and Grifton both lay down memorable solos, while bassist Isobella puts in an energetic and highly engaging turn. The band’s set demonstrates exactly why Blue Lab Beats has become such a force to be reckoned with. Fusing engaging jazz grooves, with hip-hop, electronica, soul and West African Influences, it’s a dynamic and thoroughly contemporary sound with the ability to appeal to a broad audience.
The full-band format adds extra heft to the sound of Blue Lab Beats. From early in the set, the audience is eating out the palm of their hands. All three bands had real depth to the sound, within the fine acoustics of Hackney church. The only minor quibble would be that the vocals were sometimes lost throughout the night, from those of Franz Von, with TC and the Groove Family to Orla Rae with the headliners. Overall however, this was a pretty minor issue.
The Blue Lab Beats set had a triumphant homecoming feel. The night felt even more special with the addition of the fine support. It was a night that demonstrated the diversity and strength of the contemporary British jazz scene.
