Head Space Daily Words...

This has been a week of resetting the dials, recharging the batteries and reigniting the spark that is required to appreciate being alive and what is going on around you. The people. The sights. The sounds. The smells. The sense that life is actually happening and not something that is passing you by. Going through the motions is not living, you open your eyes and six months has evaporated. It’s been head down, nose to the grindstone and the way in which I come back up for air and reconnect with the world, is through music and a collective, shared experience. Musical artists take you away from the norm and what is expected of you. They offer up a sense of freedom, belonging and an alternative point of view.

On Monday night I saw Ezra Furman play The Roundhouse in Chalk Farm. His Perpetual Motion People album, which I bought early this year, has been a firm favourite of 2016. Ezra’s voice sounds as if it is on the edge of cracking up, which lends it a raw sense of urgency and emotion. He truly connects. His words, his lyrics, what he says to the audience. He challenges as well. A sexually ambiguous Jewish boy from Chicago, he entered the stage wheeled on in a pink coffin (it being Halloween and all that,) before stepping out in a figure hugging full-length black dress, with a string of white pearls wrapped around his scrawny neck. A glorious sight!!

There are many influences. Hints of 50s rock n roll, doo wop backing from his band – The Boyfriends – a flavour of The Ramones coming through and a saxophonist who brings an 80s sensibility when saxophone on pop records was ubiquitous. The originality of Ezra Furman is what drives the whole thing. He is completely in the now. His first solo album The Year Of No Returning is Ezra alone – his words and a guitar, with minimal accompaniment. It is excellent. The band allows him to express himself and project his presence even further. It really was a great show. Perpetual Motion People may be a firm favourite but it had been a while since my last listen, so it is good to have it back on heavy rotation.

If it was Ezra Furman at The Roundhouse on Monday, it was the turn of modern day jazz pioneers BadBadNotGood at The Electric in Brixton on Tuesday. Their album IV which came out in the summer is rather excellent and yet more great music to get into. All four members are superb musicians but the drummer is sensational. He seriously takes the drums to a whole new level. What a band leading, virtuoso performance he gave.

To get this type of music out to the masses and for it to be accepted and loved, is a great achievement. As Kamasi Washington, Thunder Cat, Flying Lotus and the Brainfeeder label have proven, along with Manchester’s own GoGo Penguin, jazz is a great form of music. It doesn’t have to be pigeon holed as niche, highbrow, or pretentious. If BBNG were an old time established band who had been around the block, with major success, this gig would have cost £100 a ticket at Ronnie Scotts. This new breed of jazz music has to remain fun and accessible. A whole new audience must be opened up. Jazz keep reaching, drummer keep drumming!!

Next week is a completely different vibe at The Roundhouse, with sweary Nottingham boys Sleaford Mods. Not really my cup of tea but the offer of a ticket and meeting up with a mate will mean a good night out...