Sunday 12 September 2010

Battle of The Beats - Cheltenham Jazz Festival - 1st May 2010

The very first concert we saw at the Cheltenham Jazz festival was Sebastian Rochford's " Fullborn Teversham" incarnation. Four years later it was his name that linked us to the late night " Battle of the Beats" at the Town Hall.

Having patiently waited for a loud club set to end ( drinking an ice-cold glass of red wine after asking for white and being told they only sold "normal wine") we were eventually lured into the venue by Schlomo. I had not previously been impressed by the little beat-boxing I had seen but he competely changed my mind on this modern phenomenon.

Any thoughts I had this was a dull one dimensional skill were dispelled by the range of his talents. He quickly won over the crowd with the control of his instrument ( his mouth) and then we hung upon his every utttering. As well as obvious club tunes he added that vital element of humour and threw in unexpected references to " Cars", " Can You Kick It" , " Walk On The Wild Side" and " I Want You Back" etc. He also provided a thorough demonstration of how to layer a variety of self-made sounds before getting the audience involved in a massive Beat-box inter-action ( sadly not qualifying for the Guinness Book of Records).

Soon, though it was the main event of the night, a battle between voice, machine, DJ Food mixing and scratching for al he was worth, and drums from the great Polar Bear leader. There may not have been a definitive winner but it gave an opportuntity for all performer to show their particular skills. Sadly, it was all over and an official set from DJ Fod sent us to our hotel, tired but happy.

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