Plenty of showboating and spectacle but with exhilarating musicianship and talent at its core
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A typical London Jazz Festival setlist tends to avoid the likes of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’, Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’, and, of course, Sisqo’s ‘Thong Song’. Enter Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox.
Inspired by Bradlee’s love of vintage music, the sprawling musical ensemble began with just a bunch of college students jamming and shooting videos in a basement. The concept is an automatic pull: Pulling apart and reconceptualising popular songs in vintage styles.
Having recruited a roster of different musicians and vocalists on this continuous project – which found viral success on YouTube – Bradlee has a deep pool of talent to draw upon. In fact, there are different iterations of the Postmodern Jukebox line-up touring concurrently across different continents. The current European tour features vocalists Benny Benack III (also emcee), Sara Niemietz, Cristina Gatti, Olivia Kuper Harris, and Von Smith, as well as dancers (including the enthusiastic ‘Tamourine Guy’ Tim Kubart) and a full band of distinction.
The combination of the band’s musicianship, the vocal talent, and Bradlee’s transformative arrangements were often dazzling. Benack III begun the night with ‘Umbrella’, flexing his strong tenor. Von Smith – a vocal powerhouse – delivered Justin Timberlake’s pop smash ‘Cry Me A River’, amping up the histrionics in the pre-chorus before hitting the refrain in disarmingly soft falsetto. Cristina Gatti, who, in a previous life, was once an usher at the Southbank Centre, lent voluptuous jazz tones to Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’, which Bradlee changes from dark pop-trap into a tango-infused number. Niemitz, who impressed at the top of the show with a jaunty ‘I Will Survive’, sang with searing emotion on a big ballad arrangement of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’. The three ladies also joined together for a swinging, burlesque take on Meghan Trainor’s ‘All About That Bass’, sung with tight harmony.
The band throughout played with ritzy flourish: Jesse Elder (piano), Steve Whipple (bass), Dave Tedeschi (drums), Andrew Cox (woodwinds), Michael Evans (guitar/banjo).
A lot of the joy of watching and listening to Postmodern Jukebox came from the sheer imagination (at times audacity) of the arrangements. Other times, the vintage readings drew out new meaning in the material. For example, ‘Mad World’, originally by Tears for Fears and later recorded by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, flowed into a vaudevillian climax adding an irony to the stoicism of the lyric. Soundgarden’s grungy ‘Black Hole Sun’ becomes a slightly sinister lament due to the slow-burning, noir arrangement, which Kuper Harris rendered wonderfully.
Lastly, tap dancer Jabu Graybeal gave a breathtaking display of physicality and rhythm throughout. At one of the show’s high points, he danced to Stevie Wonder’s ‘Sir Duke’.
All photography courtesy of Emile Holba (Twitter: @emileholba, IG: @emileholbaphoto)
