Just Jack @ Tramshed, Cardiff
Fri 7 Oct
Moodymann aka Kenny Dixon Jr is one of those Detroit artists who, like Theo Parrish, seems to have some kind of purity and magic that cannot be appropriated. With an innate skill in sampling and grooves, his music explicitly reveals the DNA of Detroit music, from Motown to hip-hop and beyond into house and techno. He’s also part of the 3 Chairs collective with Parrish and two other influential producers from the city, Marcellus Pittmann and Rick Wilhite. A shadowy and enigmatic figure, Dixon Jr alternates between reclusion and bravado, sometimes hiding away and sometimes shouting into the microphone during his sets.
His incredibly emotive and powerfully rhythmic house, techno and hip-hop combines a genuine jazz mindset with potent melodic flourishes and deeply-dug soul and funk samples. Like Parrish though, he’s just as renowned, if not more so, for his unique style of DJing, playing music from all over the spectrum of groove music from the last few decades with eccentricity and dynamism.
Due to Tramshed’s lack of a proper late license this night finishes at midnight, but after-parties are promised. Even so, this night comes highly recommended – the opportunity to see Moodymann in Wales doesn’t appear very often. The last time he came to town, alongside Joey Negro, was almost 10 years ago.
Tickets: £15/£12. Info: 029 2023 5555 words GWYN THOMAS DE CHROUSTCHOFF