Jazz Breaking News: Soweto Kinch Unveils The New Emancipation At The LJF

Kinch, a saxophonist, composer and rapper / MC, started his set with an a cappella sax intro, which set the tone for how the night was to go, as his angular lines shaped a swinging groove that treaded in and out of melodic dissonance. Supporting Kinch onstage were a raft of performers who helped form a three-piece horn section to accompany the main quartet of Soweto Kinch, Graham Godfrey on drums and Karl Raseed-Abel on double bass and already warmed up from his opening set, Femi Temowo on nylon string and electric guitar. Making up the horn section was Harry Brown on trombone, Byron Wallen on trumpet and recently named BBC New Generation Artist Shabaka Hutchings on bass clarinet and sax; and brought on as a guest on some of the tracks, vocalist Eska Mtungwazi.

Behind the performers there was a large projector screen that helped to complement and describe some of Kinch’s personal views on topics from modern day finance to 19th century slavery and its far reaching consequences, which permeate into today’s African-American culture and the wider diaspora. However, while the visuals could be distracting, where they were effective was when they acted to reinforce the message Kinch was trying to get across and also when they helped to get the audience involved. This was most evident when Kinch put his sax down and went into rapper / MC mode. Using images that audience members Bluetoothed to the image desk, he went into an impromptu freestyle rap about the quick fire images that changed behind him and the overall theme of the show, freedom. This led to some pretty tricky situations for the rapper as a lot of the images had nothing to do with, well, anything really. Yet Kinch navigated this brilliantly, with a sharp wit and an unflinching nerve that intelligently tied everything together. Clearly something he’s done before.

It is in this that the show is challenging, not least to those embracing jazz’s more traditional ethos. Kinch is bringing together influences from some of today’s more chart-orientated music, which have influenced him as a musician and is something that you normally wouldn’t hear alongside jazz. It’s a breath of fresh air and can only help to bring jazz to an audience that would normally seem lost in a big concert hall and coming from as accomplished a musician as Kinch, he is giving rap a credibility desperately lacking with today’s mainstream rappers and hip hop artists, who are normally nothing more than “brand images” servile to the marketing departments of large record companies.

Another highlight of the night was when Shabaka Hutchings joined Soweto Kinch at the front of the stage to trade lines in an extended improvised section; and it was really impressive to hear Hutchings directly mimic the lines played by Kinch; and both fed off each other brilliantly.

The night’s set was made up almost entirely of songs from The New Emancipation released in September when Kinch featured on the cover of that month’s issue of Jazzwise. As a whole, the night worked; however I got the feeling that Kinch and his band haven’t yet reached their zenith. During some of the songs the horn arrangements could be overpowering, sometimes drowning out the main lines played by the soloist and the flow of the set was sometimes hard to hold on to. The cohesion of the songs was also sometimes sacrificed. However, it’s undeniable that Kinch is reaching, and finding, a new audience with his unique, exciting approach.

– Colm Doyle