Live
MOSES BOYD
Barbican, London, April 18
With live audiences poised to return soon, the UK jazz kingpin delivers a dynamic livestreamed set
“Tapping into frequency” at the Barbican, 2021
MARK ALLAN/BARBICAN
“WE’RE gonna have some fun onstage – we’re gonna get loose,” announces drummer Moses Boyd at the start of this performance, where strikingly artful stage design and lighting go a long way to bridging the gap between small-screen livestream and actual live show. It’s a promise he and his band very much keep in what is an energetic and imaginative yet subtle and ruinously cool 70 minutes, with each of the six players taking a turn extemporising in the spotlight. They include long-serving guitarist Artie Zaitz and trombonist and arranger Nathaniel Cross, whose tuba-playing brother Theon also has form with Boyd.