some images and thoughts from Alan Dearling
Uplifting, propulsive jazz at the famous Trades Club yesterday with Plantfood. A six piece, High NRG outfit from Leeds, but on a national UK tour at the moment. Great to see them in Hebden Bridge. It was billed as an afternoon – ‘Sunday Easy’ – but it was mega busy – and in reality, pretty explosive stuff. I’m sure that many punters in the crowd went home with Plantfood’s incendiary version of the classic tune, ‘My Favourite Things’ buzzing around in their brains…
Bandcamp: https://plantfoood.bandcamp.com/track/favourite-things
They have a remix version available on Bandcamp too…
I had last watched Plantfood perform in November 2022…when they were still members at the Leeds Conservatoire, and it’s great to see Plantfood developing their own individual brand of musical magic. They’ve loosened up considerably. Indeed, Plantfood are stretching themselves, exploring and experimenting, but having a lot of fun in the process. And that fun, from this prodigious ensemble, is infectious and spreads across the entire audience. They produce a sonic sound-wall of jazz that really feels contemporary in 2024. And it is powered and driven by their mix of congas, drums, bass, keys and twin saxophones.
This is what they say about themselves: “We’re summoning an intricate mix of electronic and acoustic layers, with influences all the way from Afro-funk to Modern Jazz, taking inspiration from artists ranging from John Coltrane to Nubiyan Twist.”
In 2023 Plantfood headlined the Croissant Neuf stage at Glastonbury, and they were credited as Papaoul’s “…best discovery of Glastonbury” and they ended the year as winners of the 2023 Drake Yolanda award. As a live experience, it is incredibly intense and theatrical. Each individual player gives 105%. They were very obviously having a ‘blast’, despite having had vehicle problems en route from their previous gig in Brighton. In fact, they had experienced a break-down and then the headache of having their replacement vehicle getting stranded inside the cordon for the Leeds’ half-marathon. But they were all still smiling and eager to hit the Trades’ stage at a fast, frenetic pace! Very much a must-see band.
For ‘Sunday Easy’, Plantfood created a one-off, texturally-layered set, filled with a mixture of spiritual and simmering grooves, apparently specially curated for the Sunday Easy vibe. At their ascendant best, these musicians are beginning to be ready to musically engage and compete with some of the world’s best. They are on a musical journey, bound to expand well beyond any confines and constraints of modern jazz, and well placed to develop through their spirit of adventure. Sometimes there is almost too much going on, and things an become a bit disjointed, but when they hit the groove, and the individual players offer their own sparks of brilliance, Plantfood become a significant musical entity, more than the sum of their considerable parts.
I suspect that those who missed out on the live gig are kicking themselves! And do keep an eye out for their soon-to-be-released Plantfood debut album. At the Sunday Easy there were no vocal guests, but one expects that to change, evolve, as they create and refine material for their first album.
Watch and listen out…Plantfood have been given a number of ‘labels’, including ‘Rave Jazz’, ‘Rebel Jazz’, ‘Nu Jazz’ and the ‘New Romantics of Jazz’, but they’re in their transcendency…into unknown musical territories and spaces.
Here’s Plantfood at the Onwards Festival 2023 – at Parish Divebar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydZqqDLUKso
Plantfood featuring Indy Newland – Inner City Skies (Live at the Mansion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTOHxO2wCBA
Plantfood website: https://www.plantfoodband.com/
