A Live Tribute to Kaytranada played to a packed Ponsonby Social Club on the eve of Easter break. The Tirbutes band were on fire and the audience sweated it out with dance from the unbreakable groove thang.
They call themselves the Tirbutes (sic) and they are four of the top young professional musicians in Auckland. Since the Lockdown to end all Lockdowns dropped like a bass bomb in 2020, they have been playing tributes to cult celebrity artists in front of packed houses at the popular music aficionado’s hang-out in Ponsonby. One of Auckland’s few heart and soul centres left. Most of central Auckland now pulverised to oblivion.
Three from the former Yoko-Zuna. Kenji Iwamitsu-Holdaway bass, guitar, gadgets and who’s recently been in Mitch James touring band. JY Lee, saxophones, flute, gadgets and a hired gun for everyone including Dave Dobbyn of late. Ace drummer Swap Gomez, and they are all Yoko-Zuna minus one. Guy Harrison on keyboards is everywhere too. The Miltones, Avantdale Bowling Club and he is off to Europe soon.
Their farewell now to this artists format, as Harrison heads off overseas. Also an embrace to the management of Ponsonby Social, who were at the fore when it came to keeping music alive during the time of enforced silence.
Louis Kevin Celestin was born in Haiti and emigrated as an infant, with his family, to Montreal, Canada. He was born with some voudou in his soul.
Kaytranada worked as a producer in the second decade of this century, mixing rap and hip-hop with soul, funk and hard disco grooves. A parallel and intertwining musical world to the Seventies era of Black music.
A defining moment was his debut album 99.9% from 2016, which comprises eight of the thirteen songs tonight. He won two Grammys at the 2021 awards show subsequently.
Track Uno. Cymbals crash, the bass throbs and the keyboard shimmers. The groove is off and running. The mid-seventies hard disco sound. A high soprano sax at the bridge, then the bass rumbles back in with signature Bernard Edwards (of Chic) rhythms. Burn-Hard is driving this engine all night.
Bus Ride is a slower, lounge or bedroom tempo. More Shimmy than Shout. The flute carries the mood and atmosphere. Wafts in a dream with clean elegant sci-fi tones. These days you would call it AI and therefore ominous.
Weight Off carries on with the rapier-thin flute but the bass riff leads. Drums go into hyper-drive like a tommy gun. The keyboards become a percussion instrument and is a close second.
Got It Good starts with some vocoder voices moving into a soul rap. Keyboards play a simple Jam On It (from Newcleus) hook. It get languid and loose with the bass stretching out and the alto sax adding accents, to evolve into a Funkadelic one groove to rule the world.
All are from the 99.9% album.
First of two guest vocalists, Jess Penson of electronica duo Kedu Carlo, steps up. Smooth Seventies torch soul on Chances and Intimidated.
The band gives space to the singer, with a muscular backbeat echoing the Rolling Stones classic engine room duo. Flute and piano add high cerebral tones. The singer gets buried in the mix at the end.
Second guest singer is Yery. From another up-and-coming electronica duo Imugi.
You’re the One is smooth louche pop soul with a Chic bass line.
Together continues that sound, with a bridge sounding like the rap interlude on Blondie’s Rapture.
Breakdance is a chance for the guys to stretch out on a song with multiple parts. Treated vocals become a scat mantra. Space Lab tones from the gadgets. The arrangements of simple elements give the music plenty of room to expand. The only time Kenji plays a Fender Stratocaster, and Latin or Puerto Rican tones open out into a George Benson sounding solo. Crash cymbals wrap it up with the sounds of Schoolly D’s P.S.K.
That’s it. The Tirbutes are on hold as one departs the country. See you, later, gone!
We hope it doesn’t take a Lockdown 2 to resurrect them.