With Hiatus Kaiyote’s Paul Bender on bass and Perrin Moss on drums, Thundamental’s Kevin Kerr on trumpet and Hermitude’s Luke Dubs on keys, Trap Knife comprises Australia’s Hip Hop, Future-Soul and Electronic royals. And if that wasn’t enough to pull a crowd, 505 announced that Hiatus Kaiyote’s Nai Palm would be performing a solo set to open the show.
With a wrestler’s hat emblazoned with the word “wolf” and huge, gold hoop earrings, Nai Palm performed a set of originals and covers, some as unexpected as they were delightful, including Chaka Kahn’s “Ain’t Nobody Love Me Better” and Radiohead’s “There There”. All well executed, the covers she chose didn’t outshine her originals. Rather, they demonstrated the diversity of her musicianship and legitimacy of her own songwriting. On her own tunes “Nakamarra” and “Breathing Underwater” Nai Palm tested the boundaries of her own songwriting, jamming with herself and demonstrating that she has more to offer than the last time she performed in Sydney.
Trap Knife began their completely improvised set cautiously, with each musician respecting each other’s reputation as much as each other’s musical space. Bender took the lead with stellar bass-lines, with Luke Dubbs injecting hooks reminiscent of Hermitude, and Kevin Kerr establishing the overall vibe of the sound with reverb-laden improvisations on the trumpet. It wasn’t long before Nai Palm was back on the stage, getting the audience to sing along with her improvised vocal lines.
Solos were tasteful and more scarce than one might have expected, with more emphasis on the overall groove. Perrin Moss steered the songs in different directions, constantly challenging his fellow musicians and the audience with beats that were both welcomed and unexpected.
Hiatus Kaiyote’s Simon Maven stepped up to the keys for the last part of the set, and he was characteristically brilliant, but it was Melbourne’s Laura Christophoridos who stole the show. A backing vocalist of Hiatus Kaiyote, Christophoridos has an intriguing, husky voice that is both gentle and powerful, and her improvisation was gutsy and honest.
Trap Knife’s entire set was very inclusive of the audience and felt far from the elitist mood improvised music can often exude. The performance was so intimate and inclusive that we walked away feeling as though we had all shared a very special and unrepeatable moment.
