Kelela
In The Blue Light
Boomkat Product Review:
Recorded at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club last year, 'In the Blue Light' is much more than a live album, it's a heartfelt rearrangement of Kelela's best material for a full (acoustic) band, with Ahya Simone on harp, Buz Donald on drums, Briley Harris on keys and Daniel Abed on bass.
"It's actually a dream come true," explains Kelela on 'Take Me Apart'. "I've been coming here since I was 19 years old ... it's a very full circle moment for me." If you're familiar with her back catalogue, most of these songs will be familiar, but it's the way they're presented and the warmth in how Kelela performs them that makes 'In the Blue Light' such a vital listen. And if songs like 'Bankhead', 'Enemy' and 'All the Way Down' (for our money Kelela's finest moment) were defined at the time by their forward-thinking production, these live versions just confirm how powerful and enduring the songs themselves actually are. Simone's gentle harp playing replaces Nguzunguzu's grime-y glass smashes and stuttered kicks on 'Enemy', and Kelela's voice has rarely sounded more powerful; she sounds as if she's in her element, belting out the song with even deeper emotional resonance, accompanied by Alayna Rodgers and Xenia Manasseh.
Her rhythm section is just as revelatory, not following the ruffled boogie-trap of 'Waitin' but shifting into almost bossa-style jazz, using gentle woodblock clacks and bouncy bass runs to propel Simone's glistening harp runs and Kelela's gospel-like vocal turn. And it's not just recycled hits from her best-loved albums either, Kelela adds a context-busting cover of improv jazz legend Betty Carter's '30 Years', and a dreamy version of Joni Mitchell's 'Furry Sings the Blues'. So good - if you buy one live album this year...
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Boomkat Product Review:
Recorded at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club last year, 'In the Blue Light' is much more than a live album, it's a heartfelt rearrangement of Kelela's best material for a full (acoustic) band, with Ahya Simone on harp, Buz Donald on drums, Briley Harris on keys and Daniel Abed on bass.
"It's actually a dream come true," explains Kelela on 'Take Me Apart'. "I've been coming here since I was 19 years old ... it's a very full circle moment for me." If you're familiar with her back catalogue, most of these songs will be familiar, but it's the way they're presented and the warmth in how Kelela performs them that makes 'In the Blue Light' such a vital listen. And if songs like 'Bankhead', 'Enemy' and 'All the Way Down' (for our money Kelela's finest moment) were defined at the time by their forward-thinking production, these live versions just confirm how powerful and enduring the songs themselves actually are. Simone's gentle harp playing replaces Nguzunguzu's grime-y glass smashes and stuttered kicks on 'Enemy', and Kelela's voice has rarely sounded more powerful; she sounds as if she's in her element, belting out the song with even deeper emotional resonance, accompanied by Alayna Rodgers and Xenia Manasseh.
Her rhythm section is just as revelatory, not following the ruffled boogie-trap of 'Waitin' but shifting into almost bossa-style jazz, using gentle woodblock clacks and bouncy bass runs to propel Simone's glistening harp runs and Kelela's gospel-like vocal turn. And it's not just recycled hits from her best-loved albums either, Kelela adds a context-busting cover of improv jazz legend Betty Carter's '30 Years', and a dreamy version of Joni Mitchell's 'Furry Sings the Blues'. So good - if you buy one live album this year...
Boomkat Product Review:
Recorded at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club last year, 'In the Blue Light' is much more than a live album, it's a heartfelt rearrangement of Kelela's best material for a full (acoustic) band, with Ahya Simone on harp, Buz Donald on drums, Briley Harris on keys and Daniel Abed on bass.
"It's actually a dream come true," explains Kelela on 'Take Me Apart'. "I've been coming here since I was 19 years old ... it's a very full circle moment for me." If you're familiar with her back catalogue, most of these songs will be familiar, but it's the way they're presented and the warmth in how Kelela performs them that makes 'In the Blue Light' such a vital listen. And if songs like 'Bankhead', 'Enemy' and 'All the Way Down' (for our money Kelela's finest moment) were defined at the time by their forward-thinking production, these live versions just confirm how powerful and enduring the songs themselves actually are. Simone's gentle harp playing replaces Nguzunguzu's grime-y glass smashes and stuttered kicks on 'Enemy', and Kelela's voice has rarely sounded more powerful; she sounds as if she's in her element, belting out the song with even deeper emotional resonance, accompanied by Alayna Rodgers and Xenia Manasseh.
Her rhythm section is just as revelatory, not following the ruffled boogie-trap of 'Waitin' but shifting into almost bossa-style jazz, using gentle woodblock clacks and bouncy bass runs to propel Simone's glistening harp runs and Kelela's gospel-like vocal turn. And it's not just recycled hits from her best-loved albums either, Kelela adds a context-busting cover of improv jazz legend Betty Carter's '30 Years', and a dreamy version of Joni Mitchell's 'Furry Sings the Blues'. So good - if you buy one live album this year...
Boomkat Product Review:
Recorded at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club last year, 'In the Blue Light' is much more than a live album, it's a heartfelt rearrangement of Kelela's best material for a full (acoustic) band, with Ahya Simone on harp, Buz Donald on drums, Briley Harris on keys and Daniel Abed on bass.
"It's actually a dream come true," explains Kelela on 'Take Me Apart'. "I've been coming here since I was 19 years old ... it's a very full circle moment for me." If you're familiar with her back catalogue, most of these songs will be familiar, but it's the way they're presented and the warmth in how Kelela performs them that makes 'In the Blue Light' such a vital listen. And if songs like 'Bankhead', 'Enemy' and 'All the Way Down' (for our money Kelela's finest moment) were defined at the time by their forward-thinking production, these live versions just confirm how powerful and enduring the songs themselves actually are. Simone's gentle harp playing replaces Nguzunguzu's grime-y glass smashes and stuttered kicks on 'Enemy', and Kelela's voice has rarely sounded more powerful; she sounds as if she's in her element, belting out the song with even deeper emotional resonance, accompanied by Alayna Rodgers and Xenia Manasseh.
Her rhythm section is just as revelatory, not following the ruffled boogie-trap of 'Waitin' but shifting into almost bossa-style jazz, using gentle woodblock clacks and bouncy bass runs to propel Simone's glistening harp runs and Kelela's gospel-like vocal turn. And it's not just recycled hits from her best-loved albums either, Kelela adds a context-busting cover of improv jazz legend Betty Carter's '30 Years', and a dreamy version of Joni Mitchell's 'Furry Sings the Blues'. So good - if you buy one live album this year...
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