It takes half an hour before Alfa Mist actually raps for the first time, but from minute one you can hear that he and his four jazz musicians grew up with hip-hop and grime. The opening track ‘Roulette’ comes from Mist’s new album of the same name. It is perhaps his jazziest work to date, but live it follows the structures of a rap track. His runs on electric piano end on top of the beat like sophisticated samples, the solos on guitar and trumpet are tightly defined, like subtle rap verses. Although the tempo is rarely high, the drum is compellingly present, peppered with breaks.
The London-based Alfa Mist is a hip-hop producer, label boss, jazz keyboardist and occasionally raps. But above all, he wants to tell stories with his music and chooses a different form for each album. Roulette is accompanied by a comic book and has reincarnation as its theme. “But not in a spiritual way,” he says between two songs. “I just feel like I’ve had many lives. Periods with certain groups of friends, certain music. I look back and realize that you are always born again.” The best man is 34 years old.
Exactly what story he wants to tell is not always clear; the projection on the stained glass windows of Paradiso of a facade of a stately building, part of the comic, provides no direction. “You can also just listen to the music.” Fortunately, because it is interesting enough.
Child of the London hip-hop scene
His four band members are given plenty of space and feel each other flawlessly. Trumpeter Johnny Woodham takes the most freedom, letting his instrument echo and get lost. Sometimes the sound creeps towards the keys and it is no longer completely clear when Alfa Mist is playing or Woodham is blowing. Guitarist Jamie Leeming keeps tighter to the schedules. On ‘Give Nothing’ he plays a poppy riff and Alfa Mist raps about a difficult friendship. The tempo increases briefly, bassist Flo Moore exchanges the double bass for the electric one.
Throughout the evening it is mainly drummer Jamie Houghton who keeps the well-filled room focused, even when the repetition strikes. He sprinkles jungle and drum ‘n’ bass breaks and tempo changes, but they always remain beats that force you to nod your head. On ‘Who Were You?’, the title track of the comic book, it is his busy breaks that keep Alfa Mist’s spacey womb synths in line. Houghton is also audibly a child of the London scene in which hip hop, jazz and jungle merge. He plays with like-minded people such as Tom Misch, Loyle Carner and Celeste.
In a one-two punch between the drummer and Alfa Mist on keys, it becomes clear how much they tap into the same vein. After a few short bars, the jazzy improvisation of both returns to a recognizable basic beat, something to hold on to for the listener, but not fully understandable.
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