It’s that time of the year again, where the Easter buzz urges us music lovers to head to Byron Bay for the annual Bluesfest to bask in the good vibrations. This year saw a little controversy, mainly due to the inclusion of hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar as headliner. But for every person who contested it, a louder voice praised it – and the opening night lineup ended up turning into a spectacular selection of R&B, soul and jazz, with artists like Hiatus Kaiyote, Kamasi Washington and D’Angelo all joining the rapper without a single clash.
Melbourne neo/future soul band Hiatus Kaiyote was the first to grace the MOJO stage on Thursday afternoon, opening with the ever catchy Shaolin Monk Motherfunk from their second studio album, Choose Your Weapon. Their sound works better than ever live and it’s irresistible not to just vibe out. Accompanied by three backup singers, vocalist Nai Palm shone throughout the performance, alongside the ever funky and compelling band mates Paul Bender, Perrin Moss and Simon Mavin. They went on to play a string of favourites, including By Fire, Borderline with my Atoms, the Grammy nominated Breathing Underwater and the Anderson .Paak sampled Molasses before finishing with their huge hit Nakamarra, where Nai managed to slip in a quick RIP to recently passed hip-hop legend Phife Dawg.
Image: Chris Malcolm
Soon afterwards, hugely praised jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington came out on stage, accompanied by eight of his childhood friends and collaborators who featured on his incredbile 2015 record The Epic – including not one, but two drummers. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical at how the three hour masterpiece would come across live, but what ensued blew me away far beyond my expectations. They were sharp and hugely impactful, not to mention gracious in their features; on the second track, Washington stepped aside to give the spotlight to Miles Mosley, his double bass player. The crowd were given the opportunity to listen to the premiere of Mosley’s new track Abraham, accompanied by the full band – expect to hear an official release next month. “I guarantee you ain’t seen nobody play the bass like he can,” Washington crooned. He was right. I stood in awe at the sheer creativeness of the guy; his distorted bass dropped a shockingly funky rhythm, and when Mosley began to sing over it, it became an irresistible tune. Washington then brought out his own father, “the man who taught me everything I know,” Ricky Washington, who tore it up on his flute on a moving ballad with singer Patrice Quinn.
The show quickly changed once more when Washington and the band left the stage, all except for the two “coldest musicians,” drummers Ronald Bruner, Jr. and Tony Austin. What followed was a five minute drum battle between the two, where they smashed out unbelievable rhythms at a unimaginable pace. The band soon returned to the stage, blessing the crowd with more fantastic jazz melodies, not to mention the epic solos from all of the members, most notably Brandon Coleman and his keytar. Of course, the man himself stole the show time and time again, with Washington’s deathly notes pushing the sax to a new level on every track. The 75 minute set was over in an instant, but it was definitely not a show to miss.
Check out our photo shoot and interview with Kamasi Washington
Image: Evan Malcolm
Neo-soul, funk king and R&B legend, D’Angelo came out guns blazing , rocking the feather jacket he displayed at the Melbourne and Sydney gigs. In testament to his hugely praised album Voodoo, the singer first performed his steamy tracks Devil Pie as well as Feel Like Makin’ Love, accompanied by his band The Vanguard. Soon after this came songs from his latest Grammy-winning release, Black Messiah. Despite it being his first album in 14 years the songs retained his signature sensual grooves, a characteristic which echoed through tracks such as Real Love, and Sugah Daddy.
D’Angelo’s 2014 release also made way for some compelling topics as well, the stunningly powerful call against racial injustice, The Charade, had the crowd raising their fists in defiance. It wasn’t long until the love tunes came back with my personal jam Brown Sugar, but to my surprise, when the microphone was pointed over, the crowd gave a fairly weak response – no doubt many in the crowd were waiting for Lamar to arrive on stage next. Despite this, D’Angelo still carried on with the same enthusiasm as always, masterfully controlling the stage.
A brief encore break during the 90 minute set saw every Kendrick fan left squeezing their way into the tent, making for an interesting re-entrance when crowd members were already chanting for the Compton king. Nevertheless, D’Angelo pushed on through, ending his set with the super high and energetic Chicken Grease, teasing his set’s finish several times before leaving the stage to massive applause.
We also caught D’Angelo live in Sydney – you can check out the full photo gallery right here.
Image: Joseph Mayers
After quite some wait in the seemingly overcrowded tent, it was finally time for the legend of our time to step on stage. In contrast to D’Angelo’s flamboyant entrance, Kendrick came on solemnly and silently, amidst the screams and crowd cheers. He proceeded to tease the crowd, moving to and from the mic, tantalising his opening. When he finally said his first words, we were hit with his jazz backed To Pimp a Butterfly interlude;
“This Dick Ain’t Freeeee.”
Lamar gave the show of a lifetime, performing the gassed anthems from good kid, m.A.A.d city such as Backseat Freestyle, Swimming Pools (Drank) to immense reception early on. Songs from the phenomenal To Pimp A Butterfly moved me the most though, with Institutionalized and the soulful These Walls calming the crowd with their sobering and heartfelt lyrics. After a short trip through the For Sale? interlude, Kendrick hit back even harder with the heavy Hood Politics, Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe and m.A.A.d city, sending the mosh into a frenzy.
As the show drew close to finishing Lamar played the bigger man, telling two teenagers who had climbed up some scaffolding that they had to get down or they’d stop the show; he still praised them for their energy, but warned that the crowd wouldn’t be too happy if he had to finish his set early. Building on this enthusiasm he dropped the explosive TPAB singles i and King Kunta, taking the energy to impossible new heights. For his final song, the crowd burst into a deafening chant. Kendrick controlled the crowd from loud to soft and back again, as we all cried out, “We gon’ be alright,” over and over. It was a beautiful and powerful moment, one which soared to an unreal high, making it even harder to farewell the west coast king.
The only shame of the day was that there was no link up between these artists. Washington was an extensively featured guest on TPAB, and the many comparisons that TPAB and Black Messiah received in 2015. Regardless, it was an unforgettable evening, showcasing the best of the best in a perfect environment.
We were lucky enough to catch K. Dot live in Sydney, too – check out our full live review and photo gallery.
Image: Chris Malcolm
Make sure you catch most of these artists who are playing again tonight (Saturday) for the final time at the festival.
Byron Bay Bluesfest: Saturday 26th March
Kamasi Washington – 18.15
Hiatus Kaiyote – 20.15
D’Angelo – 22.00
Neo-soul and R&B legend D’Angelo is unparalleled when it comes to his musical prowess and performing abilities – and he proved it last night, with a welcome return to Sydney. In the country to perform at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest this weekend, he took to the Sydney Opera House stage with a full live band and one hell of a theatrical performance, including multiple hat changes and a feathered vest that only he could make look undeniably cool.
D’Angelo returned to the music industry in late 2014 with his stunning third album Black Messiah, a whopping 14 years after his game-changing sophomore release Voodoo, immediately reinstating himself as one of the greatest musicians in R&B and soul history.
Earlier this year, D’Angelo took home Grammy Awards for best R&B song and album, and the sold out Opera House crowd were more than excited to finally witness the man in the flesh. The entire Concert Hall was standing up, dancing and having the time of their lives, watching one of the most influential artists of the past two decades.
Finally arriving on stage around ninety minutes late, the career-spanning set was thrilling and bouncing with energy from start to end. From incredible room-shaking rhythms to immense multi-axe guitar solos and beyond, this will no doubt be one of the best live shows of 2016 for everyone lucky enough to witness it.
Photos by Tristan Stefan Eduoard
BJ The Chicago Kid has released a surprise new EP, celebrating the sixteenth anniversary of D’Angelo‘s classic track Untitled (How Does It Feel), from his groundbreaking 2000 album Voodoo.
In one word, the release is incredible.
Uploaded both as three separate tracks and a continuous eight-and-a-half minute mashup, BJ takes us through three incredible cuts from D’Angelo’s sophomore release: Always In My Hair, Send It On, and of course, Untitled.
“His musicality is beyond this world,” said BJ in a press release accompanying the EP. “I had to celebrate his genius by paying homage to his legacy while he continues to kill the game and make great music. It’s a new year and there’s no better way to start it off than taking it back to where it all began for me. This is real soul/R&B.”
The homage is unsurprising, really, considering how clearly you can hear D’Angelo’s influence in BJ’s music. His voice, his style, his blend of soul with R&B, hip-hop and rock elements and more all show that he’s not only been influenced by the legendary artist, but may even be something of an heir to his throne.
D’Angelo is set to tour Australia in March 2016, in support of his phenomenal 2014 album Black Messiah:
March 17, TSB Arena, Wellington
Tickets here
March 19, Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets here
March 21, Sydney Opera House
Tickets here
He will also be performing at Bluesfest – details here.
In addition to his upcoming performance at Bluesfest in March 2016, R&B superstar D’Angelo has just announced that he is planning three exclusive sideshows – two in Australia and one in New Zealand. You could almost hear the girls of Melbourne, Sydney and Wellington squealing with excitement this morning, and possibly me as well, although the couch cushion should have muffled most of it.
D’Angelo will be performing:
- March 17 at Wellington’s TSB Arena – tickets here.
- March 19 at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre – Tickets here.
- March 21 at the Sydney Opera House – tickets here.
- Before rocking Bluesfest in Byron Bay on March 24 – 28.
Tickets for the Melbourne and New Zealand shows go on sale this Thursday December 10 from 10am, and tickets for the Sydney performance will be available from 9am on Friday December 11.
A year after D’Angelo’s triumphant return to music with his third studio album Black Messiah, D’Angelo is right back where he left off earning three big nods from the Grammy Award. Black Messiah is up for Best R&B Album, and its lead single, Really Love, is up for both Best R&B Song and Record of the Year. It faces some big competition with Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk, Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud, Taylor Swift – Blank Space, and The Weeknd – Can’t Feel my Face all up for Record of the year.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVsQwJfWzoI]
D’Angelo has broken his “silence” for the first time in ten years recently, sitting down with talkback show host Tavis Smiley for a rare and incredibly personal conversation. Discussing everything from what he tries to convey with the upper register of his voice, the pair’s shared experiences with Pentecostal faith, Prince‘s and Curtis Mayfield‘s influence on him and so much more, the half hour interview provided a different insight into one of music’s greatest icons.
Having been notably absent from the press, the urgency to get a D’Angelo interview was stepped up tenfold when he surprise-released his much anticipated but much unexpected follow up to his 2000 album Voodoo, Black Messiah. He eventually sat down with Rolling Stone, but there is an air of intimacy with this TV interview that cannot be beaten. Smiley asks serious and considered questions, and D’Angelo is completely responsive and up for a conversation.
On the topic of Black Messiah and the messages it contains, D’Angelo said, “Black Messiah is, I think, the most sociopolitical stuff I’ve done on record. I think in lieu of everything that’s been going—the sign of the times, right—something needs to be said. There’s so few doing that right now, and that was funny to me because there’s so much going on. The Black Lives Matter movement is going on, young black men and women are getting killed for nothing. I’ve always been a big reader and fan of history, and I love the Black Panthers. … I’m not trying to be like a poster child or anything of the movement, but definitely a voice as a black man—as a concerned black man and as a father, as well.”
From asking about Black Messiah to his belief that Yahweh put something in his heart “for the world to hear”, to discussing how he developed and discovered his own sound, Smiley and D’Angelo shift through a vast array of important topics for a truly great conversation.
D’Angelo is one of those rare, incredibly valuable artists who have managed to make absolutely gorgeous music from the beginning until now. Not many musicians can go through not one, but two lengthy hiatus’ during their career – including the 14-year-gap between Voodoo and last year’s showstopping Black Messiah – and to absolutely meet the hype, and then some, each time.
His debut album Brown Sugar came out in 1995, and really helped bring the neo-soul movement to the forefront of the music scene. Following that path came the likes of Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and countless more – including the many rappers who began incorporating a more soulful sound into their own tunes.
Brown Sugar has actually been out of vinyl publication for ten years, so it’s particularly exciting to hear that Universal Music will be releasing a reissued double album on white vinyl on April 21. Pre-order it here.
In the meantime, here’s the full album:
Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over. Soul maestro D’Angelo has recorded his first album in 14 years, and you can stream the entire thing right here, right now.
The album is a long-awaited follow up to 2000’s seminal Voodoo, an album which still makes me weak at the knees every time I play through it. It’s one of my favourite neo-soul, R&B albums and a bedroom staple for thousands around the world. It’s remarkable to consider that this is only the third album in the man’s career, coming nearly two full decades after his debut release Brown Sugar. According to TIME, Questlove has called it “The ‘Apocalypse Now’ of black music.”
I’m quite interested by the title, Black Messiah. It’s something you’d expect from Kanye more than anyone else – well, when you consider Yeezus, Black Skinhead, I Am A God and more, it’s pretty much the same thing. But D’Angelo is D’Angelo, and he’s a whole different kettle of fish. D’Angelo has stated that “For me, the title is about all of us. It’s about the world. It’s about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah.”
“It’s about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen.”
The first single Sugah Daddy has just been released as a part of Red Bull’s 20Before15 which we wrote about last week.
Featured guests on the album include The Roots’ Questlove, Parliament/Funkadelic’s Kendra Foster and Q-Tip.