The last time and indeed the very first time I visited the Jazz Caféfor a record label soiree was ten years ago.
Travelling down from Liverpool for the afternoon Acid Jazz Records round-up seemed like a wise idea until I arrived to find there were more people hanging out behind the DJ booth than in the whole of the rest of the club. Fortunately my slightly shorter fifteen-minute journey tonight was a little less of a disappointment.
Despite the fact that a spectrum of Tummy Touch DJs grace the bill, tonight is about the live stuff; about new addition, percussionist Patrick Dawes, even newer addition Mains Ignition and relative old hands Organic Audio.
The evening's proceedings are kicked off by the newly de-moustached and modernised Tim "Love" Lee. He, with familiar Tummy Touch jocularity, charges on stage, rips off his shirt to the shout of "round one" and commences a "Battle of the Moog" with Justin from Mains Ignition. The show has begun.
Next, enter the most beguiling, confused mismatch of people seen in a band, ever. A promising sign. You know this must be a union realised through a common love of music and little else.
Looking like extras from the Muppet show they launch into a their madcap set. The man himself Patrick Dawes takes left of stage surrounded by an array of drums, bongos, frying pans and other indistinguishable objects. If Patrick was completing a gymnastics floor exercise he'd get full marks in the "use of floor space" category. He's up and down like a brides nightie, tousled hair flying, arms flailing, moving and creating the most amazing spectrum of percussive sounds; spanning through modern breaks, latin staccato's, batacuda and afro/cuban rhythms. His rants and screams during the epic musical journey of his new single take the audience by surprise. Every few minutes he's effortlessly shifting from instrument to instrument, or frying pan to frying pan as the case may be. He is one big organic beat box.
Percussion aside, the rest of the band are well-practised and accomplished jazz musicians, and it shows. Considering this is the first time the five of them have played a live show together, the set seems faultless but not something for those who have an aversion to jazz music as the set often reaches heights of an avant garde Wayne Shorter or Hank Mobley. A difficult act to follow.
Mains Ignition in comparison look like a manufactured boy band and this is a group that certainly aren't lacking any pop star confidence. As he stand's punching the air with his fist, lead vocalist, Justin Anderson looks like he'd be more at home playing the stage at Wembley than the rather more intimate Camden, Jazz café. The music's pretty feisty too. These are tunes to bang your head to, to shout to. It's dirty, electronic, beats driven. It chugs along, samples are fired off, the deranged vocals add some depth and then there's the odd use of a kazoo. Sometimes seeming maybe a little too contrived but then I did say Mr Dawes was a hard act to follow
We realise the party has really only been warming up when Organic Audio take to the stage. The atmosphere lifts and the serious boogying starts. This band certainly know how to get things rocking. Andy Spence, Mr Organic Audio, fires off the samples whilst the rest of the band give him the full on funky support he needs. And they all look like they're loving it. Tracy, the larger than life vocalist, donning cowboy hat, shades and hotpants, really shows her strengths when they pump out their monster club track "Play To The Music". It's difficult not to tap a toe or two, or to join in the well warranted shouts for more. This band puts a smile on your face, as indeed has the whole night.
More, more we want more.
