Avant-garde jazz artist Shabaka Hutchings’ dazzlingly confusing performance at The Blue Note on Thursday was the latest performance in the Left Field Jazz series. Left Field is a collaboration between the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series and Dismal Niche Arts, a Columbia-based experimental music program. The series highlights alternative jazz, a genre that Shabaka, known by his first name, stands securely in.

Shabaka’s setting was an archway of lyres, building a beautiful classicist space that framed the stage with the boundaries he was about to ignore. 

Before he entered the stage, disc jockey Randall Roberts was mixing music. He flipped through a kaleidoscopic rolodex, leading us into a night of confusion, glee and serenity. 

Shabaka’s arrival on stage was only noticeable because of the introduction, which paused Roberts’ DJing, and the large newsboy cap on his head. Even his garb felt muted, with a pair of wide-leg pants and what one could guess is an artist’s rendition of a workman’s vest. 

Shabaka is the type of artist to thank the crowd after every song, which he did. 

He was joined by harpist Charles Overton, a Berklee College of Music-trained artist. According to his bio, Overton is, “equally at home in an orchestra or in a jazz club,” and he was at home last night. Overton acted as the percussion for the concert, which often felt more like an album session than a performance of pre-made songs. 

Shabaka would start by pressing a series of buttons on a producing pad which played quiet beats and poignant notes. Overton would follow, flitting his fingers through the harp strings.

The performance’s resemblance to jazz is likely due to the improvised moments shared between Overton and Shabaka. One would drop into the background, or cease playing entirely, while the other would widdle off a series of notes that formulated, then broke, rhythm ques for the audience.

At times, the music was difficult to understand. There was no consistent beat or melody to keep the listener entranced, yet I was anyway.

Shabaka can craft a space separate from time and understanding. He gives the audience snippets of melodies that feel familiar and then breaks them for the rest of the song. 

For many, this confusion would be torturous, and it typically would be for me too. But Shabaka’s constant rhythm breaks and intriguing notes locked my attention for a full 90 minutes.

It’s the kind of concert that allows your mind to wander. It wasn’t particularly loud, which was a problem considering the amount of talking done by crowd members. This freeness isn’t a negative, though. If anything, Shabaka was lulling me into a trance.

As he swapped through a series of wooden flutes, each audibly clanking as he picked them up, the room was shown a technical masterpiece. Shabaka’s playing was so intentional that if a wrong note was played, I would not have noticed.

Towards the end of the night, Shabaka picked up a replica of an ancient Mayan flute. Its sound, which I had never heard before, was as though he was playing two instruments at once. In a world where music has become so accessible, I was shocked to experience something I had never heard before. 

If Shabaka was speaking a different language, Overton was our translator, nodding his head to an invisible rhythm shared silently between him and Shabaka.  

There was little dialogue throughout the event. It was only before the last song that Shabaka truly addressed the crowd, explaining his final pick. Off of his 2024 album, “Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace,” Shabaka played “I’ll Do Whatever You Want.” The song, as explained by Shabaka, is meant to explore the connection between our thoughts and actions, using spirit as the connector between the two. To me, it sounded like a conversation between Shabaka and Overton, with Overton keeping low agreement while Shabaka repeated the same statement, elaborating when he felt like it. 

The event, and Shabaka’s art, are difficult to understand and interpret, but that doesn’t make them any less good. It was invigorating to try and understand their shared language and experience the blissful trance I was under, even if it only lasted for one night. 

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Edited by Ainsley Bryson | [email protected]

Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy | [email protected]

Edited by Emily Skidmore | [email protected]