Experimental musicians invade a Footwork set and duel to the death. In one corner is godfather of Footwork, RP Boo. On the other is XT, comprised of Seymour Wright on alto saxophone and Paul Abbot with both acoustic and digital percussion. It is New Years Eve, 2018. Starting off with the grand entrance of the Godzilla theme, both RP Boo and the members of XT begin their warmups. Stretching their musical muscles, they begin to feel the venue and come to understand each other’s musical language. While listening, I got a great visual of RP Boo prepping his Footwork set samples and drum patterns as XT experimented with various forms of percussion and stretching the limits of their alto saxophone. It definitely takes a bit for them to synchronize and start complementing one another. Depending on your perspective it may change, but I saw the 12 minute mark as the point where things started to get very good. Without spoiling much else, the next 40 minutes of the performance is spectacular, nothing else like it out there. The improvisational nature of this collaboration leads to tons of amazing moments. It isn’t perfect of course, but that’s part of the beauty of this type of experience. Hearing these artists cut all of this music live and in the moment is as exhilarating as it is intriguing. This isn’t a listen for everyone, but I can guarantee you will hear nothing else like it. If you like Footwork chances are you will enjoy this. It is RP Boo after all. For anyone else, I do recommend sticking with it and embracing the whole set. The build-up can be tenuous but I promise that it is worth it.
There are only two things I wish could have happened in regards to this performance:
1. That it was longer.
2. That I was there New Years Eve 2018.
Give it a listen below!
TheBoosh.Zone 