Kiiōtō (feat. Lou Rhodes of Lamb)

PizzaExpress Live, in partnership with the Hampstead Jazz Club, present Kiiōtō, comprising of Mercury Music Prize nominated singer/songwriter Lou Rhodes (formerly of Lamb) and award-winning pianist/songwriter Rohan Heath. On the back of a string of sold-out shows in the UK and Europe, Rhodes and Heath will be joined on the PizzaExpress Live stage by virtuoso bassist Neil Charles. Neil has performed with jazz greats Mulatu Astatke, Sun Ra Arkestra, Byron Wallen, Jose James, Charles Mingus Big Band and Gabriels. The evening will see the trio switching between pared-back jazz arrangements of their new album Black Salt and debut As Dust We Rise, along with the driving, funk/soul-tinged performances for which they have become known. Kiiōtō’s second album, Black Salt, casts the net wide and deep in the stories it tells. Debut single Butterfly is a dark and brooding critique of a narcissist, its prowling bass, angular chords and bell motif creating a claustrophobic chill. In contrast, Zero Gravity zooms out into space, reflecting upon the transformational experience of orbiting Earth, its heartbeat intro giving way to brush drums and stacked vocal refrain. Little Axe tells of the challenges of raising young men amidst the threat of violence in urban life, set to soulful guitar and congas, while White Noise highlights the hold of social media on the modern mind, in staccato rhythm and abstract piano.