Jam with Shlomo
The other day, human beatbox extraordinaire Shlomo asked if I’d join him on stage for the Bromsgrove leg of his Mouthtronica tour. I’m not much of a performer but I love Shlomo, and had never performed in my home town before.
I turned up at the Artrix and met Matt Lambe, Shlomo’s tour manager, who took me to the dressing room to meet the mouth himself. Lovely chap; we chatted about music and then did a soundcheck, going through the plan for the evening.
Before the performance Shlo held a “beatbox masterclass” where the keener enthusiasts could pick up some tips from a pro and have a go themselves. There was a great chap there who said he was in his 70s, used to be in a skiffle band had been playing music since World War II. He was fascinating by the beatboxing, and told us about his collection of home-made didgeridoos, one of which he called a “saxophone didge”, made from the s-bend of his sink.
The evening performance was fantastic – if you get the opportunity to see Shlomo live, don’t turn it down. He’s managed to craft a performance that goes beyond making beats with the mouth, and incorporated storytelling, stand-up, and electronic wizardry.
He called me up at the end and together we performed an homage to my home town “Welcome to Bromsgrove” – you can hear a recording of the performance here. It’ll be included on a charity live album of all the Mouthtronica tour collaborations.
I recognise that description of a dying town.