Four more years...

Monday, 21st January, 2013

Sunday, 20 January, 2013

One Night in Paris

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 live at Cargo

I'd been looking forward to seeing Seun Kuti live with such anticipation that the show was in danger of being a massive anticlimax. Luckily for me, Seun and his father's original Egypt 80 had tuned in to my expectancy and delivered a storming performance that left all in awe.

Playing at Cargo in Shoreditch, the former warehouse was the perfect venue for Seun's highly politicised Afrobeat, a blend of high-life, jazz and traditional African rhythms. Reminiscent of his father Fela, Seun emerged from the shadows of his legacy to put his stamp mark on the scene despite performing much of Fela's most famous back catalogue. In fact, the highlight of the night was the title track from Kuti's new album Many Things, a bold, original anthem that puts the world to rights.

Having played at the Barbican earlier in the year to a sell out crowd, Cargo was an intimate setting for the ten man band - the hot, sweaty atmosphere was thick with the sound of the solid brass section with rythmically pulsating bodies jamming shoulder to shoulder to the beat. It was standing room only and those who couldn't dance were forced along by the push of the crowd.

After a somewhat brief hour and a half set we were left eagerly wanting more but the pre and post show DJ set was the perfect antidote. All in all, a near perfect night that will go down as one of the shows of the year.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 performed at Cargo in East London on Monday, 15th December.

Brian McKnight, Dave Scott... and more!

Robert Glasper: Live at Cargo

Doo-rags, hoodies and baseball caps aren’t the usual attire of jazz aficionados but Robert Glasper’s crowd is as notable for its youth as its urban fashion sense. He, himself, is dressed like one of his tribe – oversized T-shirt, baggy jeans and obligatory glass of liquor in hand. “Don’t let this jazz thing fool you,” he jokes mid-gig as he threatens to break in to a rap after seizing the mic from guest MC, Kashmere. And it wouldn’t have been out of place if he had. For Glasper, it seems hip hop is as intrinsic to his being as his first love, jazz. The fact that his show is taking place in a smoke-filled nightclub rather than a venerable jazz venue is testament to his street cred. His warm-up act isn’t some young pretender polishing his bebop chops but a DJ whose vinyl cases are crammed with Soul and Old Skool Hip-Hop. It could so easily be a cliché if Glasper wasn’t the real deal.

Website: www.myspace.com/therealrobertglasper

Getting Personal with Eric Benet

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking with none other than soulful R&B crooner Mr Eric Benet! Eric's been out of the recording studio, but not out of the spotlight, for four years and has come back strong with a new album, Love and Life, and a number 1 single, You're The Only One. I have to admit, I didn't know what to expect from a man who's been through such a high-profile and messy public situation but Eric was nothing but open, honest, personable and charming, and definitely one of the nicest people I've interviewed all year! Look out for my revealing conversation with Eric Benet in the December issue of Clutch magazine, online on 1st December, or sign up at http://www.sylviaarthur.co.uk/ to receive updates. In the meantime, go out and cop Love and Life and visit http://www.ericbenet.net/ to hear snippets from the new album.

Catching Up With the King of Shoes, Jimmy Choo

Hackney can claim many famous fashion alumni but none are as synonymous with style as shoemaker to the stars Jimmy Choo. A-listers from the worlds of film, music and the arts all flock to Choo’s swanky Central London boutique to get their mitts on his unique handmade shoes for everything from glitzy parties to glittering premieres. But when Jimmy Choo arrived in London in the 1980’s he couldn’t have known how important a role the bustling creative Hackney would play in his life. The borough gave the Malaysian his start in the fashion world, which would see him go from a struggling student to a multimillionaire.

As an apprentice at the prestigious Cordwainers’ Fashion Technical College, Choo perfected his craft as a shoemaker, his family trade, while working part-time at restaurants and as a cleaner at a shoe factory to help fund his education. “During the eighties I was in London for a holiday and a friend of mine told me there’s a special shoe college in Hackney called Cordwainers’”, Choo recalls. “Although I had training from my father, it’s always good to have an education and I didn’t have a certificate. So I enrolled in the college to learn more and get more advanced.”

At the time, as is today, Hackney was a hub of offbeat creative talent. The artistic energy that buzzed through the borough’s streets inspired Jimmy to stay local and in 1986, after leaving Cordwainers’, he opened his first workshop, renting an old hospital building. “Hackney was a fantastic place, very peaceful and very relaxed in those days,” Choo says, nostalgically. “All types of designers and artists were in Hackney, and a lot of music stars as well. There was also a lot of factories and manufacturing, especially shoe manufacturing. It was a great place.”

Jimmy’s craftsmanship and designs were soon noticed by those in the know in the industry and it didn’t take long before Jimmy Choo shoes became the must-have brand for serious fashionistas. Patronage from celebrities and royalty, including Diana, Princess of Wales, led Jimmy to become an international fashion icon and in 1998 his success was crowned when he scored an incredible coup when his creations were featured in a record eight pages of Vogue magazine. In 2000 Jimmy was awarded the Malaysian equivalent of a Queen’s honour for his achievements and two years later he received an OBE from the Queen herself in recognition of his services to the shoe and fashion industry in the UK.

But even though he’s mingled with the world’s top names and continues to ply his stylish trade Jimmy’s love and respect for his Hackney roots remains as strong as ever. “Hackney is a multicultural place. You have the Chinese, people from Jamaica, Ireland, Holland, all sorts of people who love to be in Hackney. I get my inspiration from that because it’s very important that I love what I’m doing and I mix with people and get an idea of how they dress. It’s fantastic. Hackney is a special place.”

Fire in the dark: Mos Def live

Dante Smith, the brilliant rapper that is Mos Def was in town last week to showcase some tracks from his forthcoming album The Ecstatic and run through a selection of his greatest hits. Playing two sold-out shows at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire and Islington Academy, Mos worked his knowledgeable crowd in to a frenzy with classic cuts like Umi Says, Ms Fat Booty and Sex, Love and Money. Despite coming on stage at approx. 10.30pm on a Sunday night, Mos gave a solid performance in front of an audience that was clearly in awe of the talented Brooklynite. After the poorly-received The New Danger and True Magic Mos appears to have returned to form as one of the finest and most credible MCs in the game. Support was ably provided by London's own Pyrelli and Swedish-American hip-hop group OneSelf.

On another note, today I had the pleasure of interviewing an unusual rising star in the shape of British saxophonist YolanDa Brown. Brown is different because not only is she a black female instrumentalist in a male-dominated genre but she's also highly-educated. The 25 year old musician is studying for a PhD as well as regularly performing on the tour circuit and working on her debut album. Check out http://www.sylviaarthur.co.uk/ for more info on this woman to watch.

Until next week...

Wow! What a week its been...

Hello Peoples!
How're you doing?
This past week has been mad busy for me but that's just how I like it.
Over the course of the last seven days I've had the privilege of interviewing the cream of the crop of soul and jazz for the December issue of Clutch, the best online magazine in the blogosphere. Rahsaan Patterson, Amp Fiddler and Eric Lewis all feature so don't forget to check out http://www.clutchmagazine.com/ on December 1st to see the outcome of my conversations with black music's finest. Bookmark Clutch today.