There were two exhilarating world class performances at the Seymour Centre of Latin American style jazz and percussion on Friday night,  as the 2022 BOOM! FESTIVAL OF PERCUSSION draws to a close. The  Everest Theatre was bursting with rhythm, verve and passion and some highly talented musicians.

The first session was some Afro Peruvian Jazz performed by Ally, a group featuring Gai Bryant on soprano and tenor sax and Giorgio Rojas playing cajón, the Peruvian rhythm box. Ally opened with a tune called Orlando, which had luscious sax and trombone swirling over infectious conga and cajón rhythms.

The second track, Drum  Junk, had the band playing as a unified force, before the various  musicians performed their solos. Daniel Player’s piano solo was very impressive.

 

Gai then introduced Dai Moret, a spoken word performer. When the band was rehearsing, Giorgio’s infant daughters were jumping and diving  all over the space whilst dressed in extravagant unicorn themed  clothes. The spoken word text took inspiration from this mayhem and delved into the mythology and cultural aspects of unicorns. It was a lovely story, matched by some dynamic sounds and beats, as Giorgio’s  daughters appeared on stage to complete the feelgood experience. A  later spoken word piece featured the line, “Chaos is our first mother.” It seemed appropriate.

The second session, AFRO-LATIN FIRE, was performed by the Waldo Fabian  Sextet, plus a few guest artists. It started with just Waldo on stage, playing some of the most brilliant and extravagant electric bass  imaginable. The rest of the ensemble progressively joined him on stage for some sleek and smooth sounds backed by some very complex rhythms.

I thought a highlight of the opening piece, an original, was a wonderful conversation between the three percussionists, Ed Rodrigues on drums, Ray Pereira on congas and Kanchana Karunaratna on gata bera (Kandyan drum).

The group displayed their versatility and virtuosity on pieces such as  Boogaloo and Salsa and featured brilliant solos on a range of instruments.

Ed Goyer on vibraphone, Josh Meader on guitar, Trevor Brown on sax and  flute, and Lee McIver on trumpet and flugelhorn.

This was the inaugural BOOM! FESTIVAL OF PERCUSSION. COVID-19 had caused earlier attempts to be abandoned. The quality and sheer exuberance of these performances augur well for future developments of this festival.

The festival closes 8th October at the Seymour Centre.