Musically, it’s an
overwhelming mash of jazz-rock, (Weather Report without Wayne), prog-rock,
Parliament/Funkadelic funk, Curtis Mayfield in the vocals and just a generous
spirit of joy and well-being. Restraint is a word that is left at the door.
This is frantic. A near constant fusillade of drums, bass playing where
Thundercat’s fingers don’t seem to rest on the strings of his six-string bass
long enough for a note to be played, but played it is.
Most people came to
Thundercat from one direction from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly or another, through Kamasi Washington’s The Epic and those are useful
touchstones as the show ranges between soul and very modern jazz. Even the
ballads, which start as a respite from all the sound and fury, manage to blow
up into free jazz. I’m not sure that the young ‘uns in the hall (and there were
hundreds of them - hundreds! at a jazz gig!!), knew that free jazz was what they
were getting but they were. At several times during the evening the trio would
take off in different directions, complex keyboard lines would be matched with
knotty bass playing and a rattling fury from the drums. It was a long show of
two hours without a break but absolutely tremendous. 
(© Patrick Young)
The merchandise stall had
the usual LPs and T-shirts or, if you wanted to wear Thundercat at home you could
buy a kimono for 200 quid. Perhaps local bassists, Messrs Champion and Pope,
should explore something similarly sartorial for their next gigs. Dave Sayer
1 comment :
I have frequently been known to wear a kimono onstage, although my inspiration comes from NYC free jazz legend William Parker rather than Thundercat. Mine didn’t cost £200 though…
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