Words and music from all three members of Bristol based Hippo, coming to play for us at Rye Wax on Sunday 20th May. Tickets here:
Doug, Toby and Bin have picked their most inspiring tunes from all corners and approaches to jazz, to give you an idea of the kind of killer combination of influences they’ll be showing off at Rye Wax.
Cover photo cred: Paul Orrock.
LES YPER-SOUND – August 25th
[Doug] Love all the aspects of this tune – the composition, the sound design and the production. Its from a one off afrobeat meets musique concrète project from two of the guys from EMEFE, Money Mark from the Beastie Boys and Sinkane. the saturation on the saxes is unreal, but it works!
STUFF – axoltl
[Doug] One of my fave bands from the past couple of years both live and on record has been STUFF. Their approach to jazz meets live electronics is unbelievable, both from a technical standpoint but also the beautiful sound design and the deepest grooves. I had the pleasure of supporting these guys with my other band Cousin Kula last year.
KNOWER – Overtime
[Doug] I’ve been a fan of Knower for a while, enjoying Louis’ DIY approach to the music and videos. They shot to new levels of internet fame last year when they dropped this burning live vid of Overtime. Equal parts brilliant and ridiculous, the freshest fusion band on the planet.
GILAD HEKSELMAN – Verona
[Toby] I like this because it is a nice tune, yet still retains an underlying half-time groove, They’re all really good which helps with this.
PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP – La Luna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amkb7ooZXdc
[Toby] I like the pianist’s glasses, and the cowbell playing is on point. Such a big sound considering there are only four of them.
CHRISTIAN SCOTT – Uprising
[Bin] – Caught these guys at Love Supreme last year, definitely the stand out show for artistic intent and musical brilliance – Elena Pinderhughes! This tune is great balance of epic yet restrained, like Hippo?
ROB ARAJOU – Next Door
[Bin] Rob’s Instagram is full of burning mono synth riffs, but he stretches out a bit more on his EPs with lush harmonies and sweet grooves. I particularly like this cut on Hybrid Eyes.
Hippo will be performing live at our next Jazz Plus Presents gig on Sunday 20th May at Rye Wax. Advance tickets are only £5 here:
As usual, you can find all our Jazz Plus Picks in our Spotify playlist:
@jazzplusprods