Gig review: Jose James @ Jazz Cafe, 19 March 2010
Jose James performing at the Jazz Cafe in Camden is the greatest no brainer of them all; he’s the jazz world’s newest great hope, U.S born but British distributed, its best chance to reach a younger audience since Amy Winehouse’s first album, currently riding off his recent (brilliant) second album; it (Jazz Cafe) is probably THE jazz venue for people who like jazz but can’t quote all the musicians who performed with Miles Davis on ‘Kind of Blue.’ It also has the acronym ‘STFU‘on a pillar in the centre of the dancefloor. That alone is +10 cool.
Support comes from the ever reliable Andreya Triana (Gilles Peterson, Bonobo) who finishes her set with a sparkly cover of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody. Soon comes James’ bassist and pianist on stage. They engage the night with some improvisation, I imagine to set the tone. A seamless switch into the first song, Code, and Jose James descends, sharply dressed, understated but classy as if to say ‘here’s what your twenty pounds per ticket got me.’ Jordana De Lovely, who featured on his new album, accompanies him on. Inbetween Code he launches into a two minute freestyle where his rich voice mirrors the bass almost note for note with what must be the elder offspring of rap and melody. Impressive is the word I’d use to describe it. Very.
Jose follows with Save Your Love for Me (and thanked Nancy Wilson for the original and Detroit Love Letter (‘This is for all the Moodyman fans’ says Jose.)
The bad news is this is a strict second album set. The good news is his second album has so many gems it sort of makes up for the slight. Night-highlight Blackmagic brings the Jazz Cafe audience to a pregnant silence. Love Conversation, one of the album’s shining stars, sees Jose partner with Jordana; their voices and gestures in a beautiful symmetry which had ‘classic moment,’ neon printed all over it.
Rounding off with house-influenced Warrior, Jose wraps the show. Mellower than his usual gigs but in no way inferior, and backed by a really, really, really tight band, Jose showed in person what anyone who’s ever heard him on record already knows; cat’s got skills, and then some. And with a packed out audience of mostly 20 to 30 year olds, it’s fair to say he’s definitely bringing in some new faces to the world of jazz.
