Another great night at Sheffield University’s Foundry; witnessing first: Aziza + Finguz, a talented local three-piece, then Kokoroko the headline act up from London.
Warming up the Friday night crowd; Aziza + Finguz played their latest and greatest material, which went down well; a mix of hip/trip-hop with some electronic influence, backed by keyboard, double bass and some brilliant percussion.
Kokoroko, are an eight piece Jazz group, all of whom are superb musicians, dancers, vocalists or all of the above. With Sheila, Cassie and Richie both leading on vocals and dance whilst also accomplished brass musicians playing Trumpet, Alto Saxophone and Trombone respectively. Hypnotising Clapton like guitar from Tobi, bass from Duane, on keyboard Yohan and on percussion and drums, Onome and Ayo; these are special.
Already acclaimed and award-winning, their West African Jazz style is also championed by the likes of BBC Radio 6Music, so with a devout following already and witnessing the reaction of the Foundry crowd whos ages ranged massively, their popularity is only set to grow.
I knew they would be well worth seeing and I wasn’t disappointed. Moving through their set they skillfully covered most of their back catalog, hardly pausing for breath in the 80-90mins. Its hard to pick a favorite track, if you love brass, percussion or drums you will love the different flavours to the different tracks but overall you’ll love the musical feast that is Kokoroko! For me its Abusey Junction, the guitar lead on the track and elongated solos are fantastic.
Kokoroko are a must see and make it quick whilst they are still playing at sub 1,000 people venues.
