Those who arrived early were able to see Trampette, a four tet made up of Tom Harris, Tommy Fuller, Josh Savage and Kai Chareunsy. Coming together in 2017, the group is currently working on their debut EP which is set to release early in the new year. Playing a number of groove tunes, the group set the tone nicely for Alfa Mist to follow. By the Time Alpha and his ensemble took to the stage, the main room upstairs was packed.
Alfa played many songs from his 2017 instrumental-lead album Antiphon. The atmosphere was encapsulating thanks to the soulful jazz sound, and the intimacy and warmth provided by the Hare. Kaya Thomas-Dyke lends her wonderful vocals to the song ‘Breathe’, and hearing this live was incredible (Kaya is also responsible for designing the beautiful album cover). The unmistakable melody of ‘Keep On’ was greeted with a huge round of applause. Alfa also played ‘Resolve’ from his recently released ‘7th October: Epilogue’, an extension of the track ‘7th October’ from the Antiphon album.
In his encore, Alfa played ‘Blacked Out’, a collaboration between him and drummer Yussef Dayes released earlier this year. We were also treated to some new material by Alfa, which he ensured would be released shortly.
The night was one-to-remember, and another fantastic addition to Leftfoot’s UK Jazz Season. Leftfoot have certainly not disappointed this year, gracing Birmingham with some of the UK’s hottest Jazz talents, in addition to some of the biggest names in electronic dance music.
