Saturday night saw the launch of a new weekly gig by Dubai-based music acts Hamdan Al Abri and The Funk Radius. The Funk Radius, consisting of jazz musicians Elie and Rony Afif together with rock musician Jay Wud, provided bass, drum and guitar support for soul singer Abri's vocal performance. A very interesting genre mix, Abri and the Funk Radius had performed together late last season, and I guess it worked out well, because they'll be doing it every Saturday night this season.
The launch took place in the "space baroque" Sublime Lounge at the Ibis hotel DWTC, conveniently located near the DWTC metro station. Substantial attendance could already be seen by 9pm, and the place filled up quickly during the first set and interval, with most staying on until the last set, near midnight.
The four performed three sets of funk, funk fusion, rock and reggae, including classics like "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a ) Sex Machine", and more recent hits like "Get Lucky" and "Crazy". They kept the energy going until the last song of the last set, eliciting enthusiastic responses from the crowd at the lounge, especially on their more widely recognizable numbers.
The Bull Funk Zoo launched its CD last Wednesday with a special performance at Jambase. Given the achievements of many of the band's constituents Hamdan al Abri, Elie Afif, Jeremiah John, Assaad Lakkis and Rami Lakkis (making it a sort of local supergroup), it comes as no surprise that the place was packed, and enthusiasm was high.
There was a lot of fusion funk, and some songs were not funk at all, though the BFZ's members worked well together on whatever genres they were playing. One of the more novel ones from the album was the rock-blues fusion number "Shit House Blues" (first time for me hearing a blues song being growled). I particularly like the playful and very funky "Afterparty (307)" (included in the album as a live performance recording, including the audience participation bits). "Drifter", a funk-rock-reggae fusion song, has a catchy funk-rock progression hook, and funk-rock fusion song "Junk Funk" has nice lyrics with a peppy funk backdrop.
I had a couple more days than usual in Abu Dhabi last week, so I went for an overnight. And I cashed in the rain check for a visit to a place I had intended on visiting over 3 months ago: Jazz & Fizz.
After the sore disappointment that the so-called "Jazz" Club at the Abu Dhabi Hilton turned out to be, I walked into the Corniche Sofitel with low expectations.
If anything, the decor of the place was good.
To my delight, the resident band, called The Cuban Quartet Band, was actually quite good. They played some jazz tunes, a bit of bossa nova, a bit of funk, and a bit of classic R&B. I liked their harmony and their versatility; the singer could play the acoustic guitar, and the bassist and keyboardist also changed instruments as needed. The singer had a rich deep voice suited for jazz in both Spanish and English, although she needed a bit of instrumental cover for the high notes. If you want to catch the jazz and jazz-related genres, it would be best to get there early, assuming they keep up the pattern of lapsing into pop-ish genres later in the night.
I ended up with a very enjoyable night of jazz, with great wine and a REALLY good cheese platter. The Cuban Jazz Quartet is only around (as far as their current contract goes) until June 8th, so if you're in the capital, you need to arrange for a jazz evening at the Sofitel before then (Wed. - Sun. only).
