Kimbra Brings New Life to Idols & Vices
On stage at the Blue Note, Kimbra and her supporting band took a good hard look at each song, opening them up and reimaging their landscape.
- Photo Credit Nicholas McMillen
On Tuesday night Kimbra took the stage at the Blue Note Jazz Club where she kicked off a two-night, four-show residency.
She told the audience it was meaningful for her to have the chance to perform at such an iconic venue, where she’s watched some of her favorite artists perform. The residency gave the New Zealand artist the chance to perform the songs off her latest album, Idols & Vices (Vol. 1), live for the first time.
Grammy award winning musician collaborated with other artists on her new album, featuring artists like BANKS, Skrillex, and Dawn Richard. That collaborative nature continued at her residency.
On stage at the Blue Note, Kimbra and her supporting band took a good hard look at each song, opening them up and reimaging their landscape.
- Photo Credit Nicholas McMillen
Though not a jazz album, the album could come out to play under the stylistic elements of jazz. The thing about jazz is that it’s generous with its space. There’s always room for more — more ideas, more voices, more emotions. Or as Kimbra put it, “Reimagining space, carrying off into microcosms and making shit up.”
Kimbra said she asked herself what it would be like to take songs that are in an entirely different style, to take them into a stripped down, jazzy direction. On stage with Kimbra was Taylor Graves on keyboard, Dan Edinberg on bass, and Steve McKie on drums, who helped her reinterpret her discography.
So it’s only fitting that the songs off the album, which features collaborations with other artists, were reimagined into jazz versions. And that’s exactly what happened on stage. As the lights went down, the idols and vices came out.
The environment was incredibly laid back and go-with-the-flow. In the cozy environment of the Blue Note, the audience and the stage almost blend together. With everyone seated so close together, it creates a scene where artist and audience become one, sorting through their own idols and vices together.
The show was divergent from her usual performance style. Stylistically, Kimbra is a little bit pop and electronic with a smattering of R&B. At the Blue Note, Kimbra performed stripped down, jazzy versions of her songs. Though Kimbra’s style didn’t lose those sensibilities. Instead the bite and groove of her songs fit comfortably in the jazzy style of the evening. She performed tracks like “Keen,” “Force Field,” and “I Wonder.” The evening had an air of playfulness, power, and warmth.
- Photo Credit Nicholas McMillen
I’ve always been taken by Kimbra’s motions as she performs. The flowing, deliberate movements of her hands always struck me as if she was building the songs in the space. With each twist and flowing motion of her hands, she’s crafting. She opens herself up and explores the emotional landscape set before her.
In “Stuff I Don’t Need” she sings, “And I want love, and I want trust / I think that's all I need / The rest adds up, it all adds up / To just more stuff I don't need.”
The Blue Note is a space that’s quiet, down low, and cozy. It’s where we can dig in and discover something new about ourselves before the evening ends. Kimbra remains generous to her audience, reminding them of the importance of getting out of your head and opening yourself up to newness. She didn’t leave the stage without telling them, “The kingdom of heaven is in you.”
“The culture of the momentum onstage is telling and readjusting and falling back,” she added. She said it teaches the musicians to “be malleable and flexible for what the moment calls for” which is a lesson that extends beyond music. —Olivia Bardo
