That's How It Is (THIS) @ Bar Rumba - Monday 30th saw
Gilles Peterson, Ben Wilcox et al rip it up at the 9th Birthday Party of this very influential night.
Shaolin Monks @ Peacock Theatre (Saddlers Wells) - impressive Kung Fu antics - a story from the
Monks' history overshadowed by some very fly fighting moves and feats of hardness.
Bah Samba @ Jazz Cafe. Sunday 22nd - these guys were nice. Music was disco/rare groove with suprisingly little
Brazilian influence considering their name - what would have been called Acid Jazz 10 years ago. Jairzin
(possibly mis-spelt, sorry!) who were in support were good also - nice Brazilian stylings.
Airto Moreira and Flora Purim - the songs of Milton Nascimento @ The Barbican - these guys are obviously legends,
but wasn't feeling them like I had previously, at their concert on Saturday 21st. I'll put that down to having a nasty cold at the time.
The Brixton Graffic Show @ Fridge Gallery in Brixton is excellent - music-related photography and visual
arts - only on for 6 days. Read the review.
Bounce @ Saddler's Wells Theatre - some nice breaking and other types of dance but to be honest pretty much aimed at
the younger audience or someone for whom seeing decent dancers is a bit of a novelty. It's finished now but check it out
next time around if it sounds like your bag.
Insomnia starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams is very good - see Robin give Al beat-downs - bizarre!
Lothar Hempel - 'Propaganda' @ the ICA. Don't get me wrong, I love the ICA and have the membership to
prove it, but this exhibition is dire - extremely dull and pointless. Okay I'm no art critic, but then very few of us
are, hey? Miss it.
Raison D'Etre @ El Paso (Old Street, opposite 333). This night, ran by my pals Yvan and Christelle
(also behind Friday's Funk-i-Tus) is really starting to take off and
become very popular - expect live musicians over an open mic, and nice chilled and friendly atmosphere.
Read the interview.
Latin American Film Festival. This has just finished, and would to have liked to have checked out more films.
The only one I saw was 'Dear Fidel - Marita's story'. This is possibly the most atrocious film I and the other guys I was
with have ever seen. Marita is wholly unlikeable, and a good chunk of this 'documentary' is blatantly
fabricated. Avoid as if your life depended upon it!
Nine Queens is an excellent film set in Argentina, which has as it's subject a pair of con artists
trying to make a wad whilst the economy goes to pot. A great plot line, nice usage of humour, and authentic
characters make this a winner.
Shinla @ The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre. Was pretty adventurous checking this out really, but left disapointed.
A mix of contemporary movement, martial arts, and Noh, with music ranging from Japanese traditional music
to rock rhythms. Sounded good on paper, but I found it unengaging and very difficult to follow in the flesh.
Jinga @ Fortress Studios is a new monthly at the Fortress Studios near
Old Street - night 1 was on Saturday 7th - Ady Harly (Sambaloco Records), Gilles Peterson, and Joe Davis (Far Out Recordings)
threw down a wicked Brazilian/DnB/Latin Jazz selection for the steaming downstairs dancefloor, whilst Paul
Bradshaw and the Straight No Chaser crew dropped lovely hip hop and boogie in the upstairs bar.
Jaguar Shoes. Friday 6th saw us checking out a very cool new bar on Kingsland High Road for the second
Friday in a row - wicked illustrations on the walls, nice people, and excellent hip hop and electro all night.
The place appears to be a converted shop, so I can only refer to it by the signage - 'Jaguar Shoes'. Check it
before it becomes crap (I hope that's not inevitable!).
Blacktronica @ The ICA. Charlie
Dark's monthly night at the ICA on Wednesday 4th rocked! Highlights were Nolan Weekes' spoken word
onslaught, Seiji's broken beat tour de force on the decks (which packed the dancefloor), and the excellent visuals
from Specimin. Read the interview.
uniteddiversity @ WKD happens once a month - the last excursion on Tuesday 3rd September
saw several excellent live jazz/funk bands and DJs, and a nice chilled mid-week vibe - see the 'Diverse
Unity' item above for more.
Jazz Cafe. Camden's jazz establishment is approaching it's 10th Birthday - checked
the sublime Izzi Dunn in concert there on Sunday 1st September (see the KTL review).
Barrio @ Cargo is still very much worth a visit (as we discovered on Friday 30th August) - Stuart
Patterson and guests playing quality deep/latin/soulful house.
