It went dark in the Town Hall in Cheltenham so we all turned to look at the stage but the first notes came from behind and a spotlight picked out a trumpeter in one of the boxes on the first floor. An answer came from a saxophone in a box on the opposite side of the pit and then a bass note rang out and a light shone on a bassist sat high at the back of the stage on the top level of the choir steps. Was this an homage to the opening wedding scene in Love, Actually or, more likely, was it Ezra Collective announcing their ‘collective’ presence from all points of the arena?
Once all were gathered
together on the stage the rampage could begin. I’m giving points to the man on
the mixing desk who seemed to have decided to just make everything louder than
everything else. The music is loud and punchy; short riffs thrown back and
forth; the bass anchors everything and Femi Koleoso produces the perfect drum
solo of flailing arms and blurred sticks. Jamaica is in there along with afro
beat and fractured funk. The crowd are leaping and the floor bounces. Is this
jazz? I can’t decide but the feet know what the jazz police don’t.
Femi tells us that over 10
years ago they made their Cheltenham debut on the Free Stage in the Park and on
that occasion they had played Herbie Hancock’s Eye of the Hurricane and they played it again tonight. A mad
mariachi rhythm leads to the Red Sea parting as Ife directs the crowd to clear
a path through and he, TJ and James clamber down off the stage and over the
barrier to promenade through the assembly. Getting down turned out to be easier
than getting back up.
Joe Armon-Jones finally gets
the opportunity to be heard with a romantic piano interlude. They close with
Sao Paulo, another rhythmic explosion and that’s it.
“Joy,” Femi explains, “is better than happiness because joy is more persistent in your soul. It gives you the strength to fight tomorrow. Joy is a stand-up emotion.” It’s been a joyful hour and change. Dave Sayer
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