Finally the universe aligned and I got the opportunity to go see Steve Newman (along with Greg Georgiades and Ashish Joshi ) at the House of Nsako in Brixton, Johannesburg.
Venue:
The venue was surpisingly pleasant given the slightly dodgy neighbourhood and other nearby establishments. The host is fabulous and took my friend who arrived a bit earlier on a impromptu tour of the place.My only complaint is that the seating arrangement can be improved upon – we ended up moving to get a better view, and I imagine we were not the only ones who had their view obscured by a pillar. The food was great – I had a wrap that did the trick.
The music:
Not what I expected, but mesmerizing nonetheless. Don’t expect big showmanship or any conversation for that matter, these guys sit down and play, that’s it, but it’s good. I expected something more towards the style of Tony Cox, but they have very distinct styles. They have played together though – do yourself a favour and check these out:
Clipped labeled “Dave & Julie”:
Steve & Tony fooling around:
A bit of a sidetrack – my favourite: Tony’s “You asked for it”
There’s tracks / clips that can be downloaded from both their sites. All in all – when you get the now rare chance to see any one of these two guys, or the even rarer privilege to see the play together – DO IT!!!! As for me, I’ll be keeping an eye on the House of Nsako – a lovely venue.
That’s it, I’m done.
