EFG London Jazz Festival: Toninho Horta. Keyon Harrold
This year’s EFG London Jazz Festival is my first. I always wanted to go since there is so much to be liked about this festival. First of all, obviously, the programming. This year is another one with an extremely diverse, versatile and eclectic array of artists too numerous to mention here. But what is also extremely charming about it is the fact that the festival is spread out all over town. So you get to see a bunch of totally different venues and you’re strolling through all kinds of interesting neighborhoods. It is indeed very exciting to soak it all in.
I started out with two nights at Camden’s Jazz Cafe in the heart of Camden Town. I’ve been visiting this now legendary club several times over the years, having seen brilliant and unforgettable performances by Chico DeBarge, Jean Carne, Norman Connors, Rahsaan Patterson, and so many more. On Tuesday night, Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Toninho Horta was on stage for a rousing rundown of some of his greatest tunes from his vast discography. He started out solo which turned out to be a pretty vulnerable and intense prelude to the evening. You could tell that a large portion of the city’s Brazilian population was on site because of a few sing-alongs now and then. After a couple of songs with a guitarist named Yoav, Toninho invited his band on stage, including his sister Lena on flute, André Dequech on piano, Yuri Popoff on bass, and Cuca Teixeira on drums. Toninho, who turns 76 on December 2nd, is on a world tour celebrating and proving his importance of the Brazilian landscape. He was part of the Clube Da Esquina collective, which released one of the most important records of Brazilian music back in 1972 and which was formed by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. This night was not only a nod to this pivotal period, but also a celebration of Toninho’s work as one of the most celebrated artists of Brazilian music.
In total contrast to Tuesday night’s performance, trumpeter extraordinaire Keyon Harrold graced the stage of Jazz Cafe on Wednesday night. Keyon, who just turned 44 a couple of days prior to his performance, played music from his excellent album “Foreverland”, which came out at the start of the year. The very personal and spiritual songs from the album were expertly displayed by his tight band. His compositions can really hypnotize you, as proven by the brilliant “Don’t Lie”, where Detroit-based singer Malaya was the real queen. And the way they segued into Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” was something else. Robert Glasper, who can be heard on the album and who is one of the co-writers of the beautiful “Find Your Piece”, was asked to come on stage to play on this track, the album’s opener. He came up with a very soulful and poignant solo which also had a lot of oomph and thickness to it and clearly enhanced the piece. Keyon, whose playing is totally unique and which reminds me, if at all, of Freddie Hubbard’s approach and embouchure, could also be heard on vocals and I really think he should do that more often. And another artist was asked on stage. Having co-written and sung the title track of the album, British songwriter and singer Laura Mvula did her best to prove that she ranks among the best singers in the UK today. The evening closed with the very enchanting and chant-like “Beautiful Day”, one of my personal highlights of the album.