Cody Chesnutt

Tuesday 1st November. The Jazz Cafe. Cody Chesnutt. Me and the missus tonight and it’s my first time to The Jazz Café since its refurbishment earlier this year. They’ve done a good job and the removing of the old bar in front as soon as you arrived has really opened up the space. On the down side the band don’t enter the stage from the top level down the stairs which gave the venue a quirky individuality but it’s a minor gripe.

The last time I saw Chesnutt it was for a question and music evening at the same venue just before his last album hit the streets. An interesting evening with musical highs but also the odd pretentious hipster asking a banal question.

So it’s with some trepidation we arrive tonight not quite being sure what to expect. Known for his headwear Chesnutt’s hat of choice tonight is the bowler. He introduces the night as a showcase for his yet to be released album and so it proves interspersed with a few tracks from ‘Landing on a Hundred’. Having previously dismissed his cult classic ‘The Headphone Masterpiece’ I know there will be nothing played from this album.

He kicks off with three new tracks unknown to the audience. He is an enigmatic performer and it doesn’t take him long to come down onto the floor and sing amongst the enthusiastic crowd. He starts the first of many audience participations and singalongs (more later) and it takes a little while for his voice to warm up.

He then segues into four in a row from his last album which ignites the crowd who respond to the songs’ familiarity with much dancing and Chesnutt’s voice is hitting its peak.

An extended ‘Have you heard anything from the lord today’ leads into the introduction of the band where we find out it’s the first time they have all played together. It says something about their musicianship that there’s barely a foot put wrong throughout the night.

Chesnutt comes back on his own for a solo spot with just his electric guitar which is also the first time he uses it all night which is a shame.

It’s been a mixed night with some real musical highs but nearly every song outstayed its welcome with extended orchestrated singalongs with the crowd. He name checks Stevie Wonder in reference to crowd participation and it was this very reason that stopped me awarding a Stevie Wonder gig five stars because I haven’t paid to hear some tone deaf woman next to me belting out the song.

So its highs and lows but ultimately a frustrating night that would have benefitted from song length editing but instead more of them.

Keep on rockin y’all.

I saw Cody Chesnutt live at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California, in March of 2014 with a bunch of my friends. We're all R&B and soul fans and we all really like Chesnutt anyway, so to see his show together was a blast.He can be so funky! What other musician comes on stage wearing a helmet? Probably none. But he sure did, with a guitar in his hands for some songs and just his sweet, sweet voice for others.

And, boy, Chesnutt sure knows how to keep the audience going. He didn't have a ton of lights and just the standard musicians to accompany him - guitar, drums, keyboard - and let his voice be the show. He started the show singing "The Word is Coming," and that's one of my favorites, then he sang so many good songs, like "The Last Adam," "Afrobama," and "The Seed." The audience - and there was A LOT of people there - went nuts when he sang "Everybody's Brother" because it's such a deep, soulful song. The lyrics tell such a heartfelt story about coming back from the bottom when things can't get any worse. It seems like it's coming right from Chesnutt's soul. I loved that show as much as I love Cody Chesnutt himself.

Great moment, great show. Big Thanks to mister Cody Chesnutt. Cody chesnutt give us a lot in the two hours of the show. Amazing voice.

It's such a shame that is last album "landing on a hundred" didn't work that much, should be on a top of the charts...

Hope the new album is gone a work. Buy "landing on a hundred" and "my love divine degree", go see him on show! Support Cody Chesnutt !!