Serious

We've had a fairly hectic couple of months in the Serious office; somewhere in between dancing at the Barbican clubstage into the wee small hours and pitching tents in the rain at Womad, we've managed to squeeze in a couple of tours, performances at some of the UK's leading festivals, shows at Southbank Centre's Meltdown and Festival Brazil and a raft of shows at the Barbican's Blaze festival. And it's only August. We felt it was time to take stock this week, and recognise what a great couple of months it's been.

Frequent visitors of Southbank Centre over the Meltdown period, we caught a number of fantastic shows, all of which captured the essence of the festival. The highlight for me had to be Krystle Warren, whose performances at the Purcell Room had the entire audience on its feet, and whose voice and on stage persona proved once again to be utterly captivating. Krystle’s appearance in the memorable Celebration of Kate McGarrigle concert earned her a wealth of new fans, amongst them Holly Williams of the Independent, who described Krystle’s Nina Simone-esque voice  as “astonishingly powerful.” You can read the full review here.

Two of Brazil’s finest musicians, best known for their involvement in the Tropicalia movement of the 1970s, returned to their city of exile this month. First Caetano Veloso, who created a stir in the Barbican at the beginning of July (have a read of the Arts Desk review) and, last week, Gilberto Gil whose energetic show at the Royal Festival Hall brought over 2,000 people to their feet. Read the 4* review in the Guardian.

The Barbican’s Blaze Festival was even bigger and better this year. The sounds of latino, flamenco and jazz met in the form of a collaboration between Dave Holland and Pepe Habichuela, followed by a storming second set from Chano Dominguez.  Gilles Peterson and Roberto Fonseca came together live on stage for a one off London performance of their latest project, Havana Cultura. Offering a heady mix of jazz, hip hop, reggaeton and Cuban rhythms, their live show was happily married with the taste of Havana Club and demonstrated that, with the right music, the chairs in seated auditorium are redundant! The following week we were joined by Zakir Hussain, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, in an evening of genre bending dialogue. Put well by the London Jazz Blog: “the sophisticated and poised music created by this trio may give the industry a headache trying to classify it, but having put the audience under its spell for the best part of two hours, sticking a label on it seemed rather beside the point.” Have a look at the full review here.

Last week, over three nights at the Hackney Empire, we danced to Balkan Gypsy music with Taraf De Haiouks, the sounds of the Congo with Staff Benda Bilili, and finally were treated to a screening of Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula, with Philip Glass’s original score played live by the Kronos Quartet. Read the 4* Guardian review.

At Womad, last weekend, Serious certainly had a busy time of it, with six different artists performing over the course of the three days. The first night started with a bang – Staff Benda Bilili played on the main stage and were, once again, a hit. I think David Taylor of the Independent sums it up pretty well:

“The biggest buzz had to be the outstanding Staff Benda Bilili. The Congolese group, whose star is rising, lived up to all the hype. It's impossible to stand still to their set and by the final song the crowd was one mass of beaming smiles and raving limbs. And the young guy who played his own guitar-type instrument fashioned out of a tin can and a strand of electrical cable was truly stunning. It is only fitting that they were presented with the Songlines award for "best band of the year" before their encore.” Read full review.

The rest of the weekend saw performances from Krystle Warren, Salif Keita, Alim Qasimov, Mayra Andrade and Muntu Valdo. Have a read of the other reviews that came out of Womad here:

4* Evening Standard
4* Guardian
4* Telegraph

If you missed out on the live action, you can still catch the broadcasts on the BBC iplayer. You can also listen to Staff Benda Bilili on World Routes on Sunday 1 August.

Phew! Think that pretty much sums up July for us. We’re looking ahead to an exciting time, as we start to get ready for the Autumn shows. Preparation for the London Jazz Festival is in full swing, with many of the shows already on sale, and plenty to be announced soon. If you’re not doing so already, follow us on Twitter and be the first to hear the news – www.twitter.com/londonjazzfest. Or if you'd prefer to get in touch on facebook, you can find us at www.facebook.com/londonjazzfestival

That’s all from us for now!