A couple of days ago I got to go and see Alfa Mist, a jazz artist from East London, grace the stage of SWX with his incredible band. This gig was unlike anything I’ve been to before – the music predominantly had no lyrics, apart from one track with rapping and one with singing from his band member; therefore, it felt like a very different experience. Usually at a concert by an artist I having been listening to for a while I can express my affiliation by singing along, but in this show filled with instrumentation and improvisation instead of lyricism, I found myself appreciating the musical flow, contrasting quieter moments with busier ones, focusing on each individual instrument and it’s contribution to the whole sound.
The saxophone/bass clarinet player performed some amazing solos, and so did the drummer. Alfa himself got lost in the music, playing the keyboard effortlessly as if he didn’t even need to think about it. His dark and moody sound was so much more powerful to hear live.
Another thing I noticed was that there were not many members of the crowd filming on their phones, they were instead appreciating the performance in the moment, using their arms to dance instead of hold a phone above their heads. Perhaps this was due to the slightly older demographic of the crowd (younger audiences tend to be more attached to capturing the memories), or because of the nature of the music as more of a continuous musical experience instead of an easily discernible song-by-song set-list.
Overall, it was a special evening and I’m looking forward to listening to more of Alfa’s recently released solo piano project, On my Ones.
Stuck On Repeat with Leah 