Edinburgh Jazz Festival review: London Afrobeat Collective, George Square Spiegeltent

The London Afrobeat Collective may not be a household name but there were plenty Edinburgh Jazz Festival-goers willing to take a punt on the promise of their mission statement to bring Fela Kuti, Parliament Funkadelic and Frank Zappa into the 21st century.

London Afrobeat Collective

London Afrobeat Collective, George Square Spiegeltent ****

And if they only lightly referenced the first two in their dynamic set, this was of secondary importance to their ability to bring the late night Saturday party vibe to the Spiegeltent with a sonic stew which was infectious and accessible.

The nine-piece outfit, fronted by Congolese/Argentinian singer Juanita Euka, majored in funk with a dash of soul and a mess of brass. The players were showcased in sequence, with lengthy instrumental grooves contrasting the tones of Edmund Swinburn’s tenor sax and Kliben Michelet’s beefy baritone, while Andy Watt’s trumpet cut through with utter clarity, before the teasing solos resolved into a clear Afrofunk groove.

Everyone had their chance to shine. A mass percussive outbreak involving congas and cowbells dovetailed into a soulful Afrobeat brass blast. From here, the set moved into a fat funk interlude and there was also space to inject some politics to the party with Euka’s lyrics about the exploitation of Congolese resources.

There was a collective tight yet light hand on the tiller throughout, whether marshalling a continuous sinewy groove or unleashing the full maximalist power of the ensemble to deliver an ecstatic crescendo. - Fiona Shepherd