Last Sunday I visited Cross The Tracks festival down at Brockwell Park for a Jazz, Soul and all things funky extravaganza.
I started out the day with one of my most anticipated artists in Yazmin Lacey, who you may have seen was in my five essential artists article. Unsurprisingly, she was killer and an early highlight on the main stage - with an impressive crowd for the beginning of the fest.
Next up I headed over to the TERMINAL for one of my favourite artists from Brick Lane Jazz Festival, Bel Cobain. Some technical difficulties had her shortening her set by ten minutes but with the time she did have, she once again dropped some of the most chilled out, beautiful jazz and soul of the festival. I am absolutely addicted to her gentle style and delivery. If you haven't heard Bel Cobain, please can I strongly suggest you go and get stuck in ASAP.
On the main stage next was another artist from my essentials list, and that is Domi and JD Beck. The wonderful duo had a great stage set up facing each other at the centre, in front of their respective instruments. I had a great time sat on the hill grooving to their infectious tunes. Domi especially blew my socks off with her ability to play both the bass lines and lead keys at the same time, somehow keeping track of incredibly different rhythms and melodies between the two keyboards. Both of these guys are crazy talents and I can't wait for the future of the project.
Someone that I somehow forgot was on the lineup is Hak Baker. A once in a generation voice with a crazy ability to mash up genres, his set was ridiculously good. One of the most charismatic stage performers (and people - as I would find out later in my interview) I've ever seen in my life, he plastered a smile to my face for the entire set. His recent singles sounded great live and the classics went down a treat. A friend who was seeing him for the first time described his music as "The sound of multicultural Britain" - and I've got to say I've never heard a better description of the man's music.
Another artist I got to interview was the lovely Devon Gilfillian who was also my next set of the day over at the CABOOSE. Over the pandemic, he made a covers album of What's Going On? by the legendary Marvin Gaye - and we were graced with the title tune during his set, performed immaculately, which is no small task. His band were especially tight and his guitar playing ability is top notch. Never has one man been more suave than Devon - and I love it.
Ezra Collective are one of my favourite bands probably ever. Their last album Where I'm Meant To Be was one of my favourites of last year, and everything they touch turns to gold. Their set today was so perfectly suited to the sunshine - it was incredible. Their upbeat latin-infused, UK jazz had thousands of people at the main stage dancing away for the entire duration of their set. What's more impressive is the set did not rely on any of their massive features or even their biggest tunes, letting their slightly deeper cuts take front and centre. The usual fantastic solos ensued from the group and it was a great set to keep my energy levels up before the evening.
After Ezra Collective I got a drink and some food and chilled out watching some of Masego's set from the back (unsurprisingly amazing), before dashing off to have my chat with Muva of Earth which was great.
Finally to top the day off, we assembled nice and early to get a good spot for NxWorries, which if you don't know, is Anderson .Paak's side project (the one that isn't Silk Sonic) with Knxwledge. They had a record out way back in 2016 but in 2023 the year of our lawd (hahaha) the boys are back in town, armed with new material and ready to take on stages. Anderson .Paak's stage presence as always was incredible, maintaining his status as the smiliest man on earth (with the best teeth in the game). Knxwledge held down the ones and twos even with his own DJ interludes, featuring remixes of massively varying qualities (looking at you - 'Wonderwall' house remix). The new material is sounding sufficiently groovy, although I couldn't shake the feeling that most people in the audience didn't know any of the material, old or new, except for 'Suede' which was a certified banger. A great summery set to top off the fest although, I could definitely have done without the DJ interludes mid-set as it made for some odd pacing.
My first time at the festival has set it in stone as an absolute essential for my festival calendar. With a lineup as strong and diverse as this - even for a genre defined festival - it's easily one of the best around. I'm excited for how it will grow and develop and I'm already on the edge of my seat for the first lineup announcement for 2024.
Comments