The stage was all shafts of purple and red lights and dry ice, with the instruments
for the main act set up towards the back. Sage 1 was about two thirds full
and Oscar Jerome (guitar) and the band (bass guitar, drums, keys doubling tenor sax) stood
out front stage. I didn't catch the names of the rest of the band, nor most of
the titles of the tunes, not sure if this was because of indistinct speech or
cloth ears on my part.
The first song had Misty in the title*,
with skilled guitar but I couldn't quite detect a direction to the music, maybe
contemporary song, with solos from keys, a steady beat, and a feeling almost of
outer space during the sax solo.
Then
came an instrumental with a bit of wordless singing from our guitarist, ending
with a drum solo. The next piece was from a forthcoming CD, called Gravitate
I think, with song-like guitars. The final piece was rounded off by a jazz-like
sax solo with a wild free-jazz feel on the final notes.
Any support act which precedes a band such as Kamasi Washington has a difficult
task to do. I'd suggest a more distinct direction would have helped, simpler
tunes with stronger variations.
Ann Alex
* Misty Head.
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