soweto kinch

[Natalie]

what do people think of sax player/rapper soweto kinch? any opinions, just interested in peoples thoughts on him!! loads say he should stick to rapping or sax but not both! hmm ......

 

[funkymonk]

I saw him last year, and he was amazing. The content of his rapping is really thoughtful, different from many of the rappers out there today, and he's an excellent saxophonist. Iv heard many people say he should stick to one or the other and i my opinion thats rubbish i think he has alot of potential in him and i like the fusion and how he deals with it. Although i prefer the album conversations of the unseen (more jazzy sax stuff), to the tales of b15 (which is still good).

 

[Jules]

..not familiar with his work (Ok- I know the name but haven't heard any CDs), are we talknig a Rapping in the Gil Scott Heron Traditon?

 

[Pete Thomas]

I think he's a great player but in an interview on Radio 4 last year he expressed a rather arrogant opinion - something about jazz players needing more intellect I think, I can't remember exactly so sorry Mr Kinch if that isn't the case.

 

[Bobby G]

nachoman wrote:
..not familiar with his work (Ok- I know the name but haven't heard any CDs), are we talknig a Rapping in the Gil Scott Heron Traditon?

I haven't heard a great deal, but in the sense it's not about guns and badass mofos (intentionally stereotypical view of some, not all, rap) then yeah, it's in the Gil Scott-Heron tradition. I like Soweto's tone on what I've heard, kind of old and muffled, but strong.

On a slightly more poetic note, Ben Okri contributes some lines to Denys Baptiste's extraordinarily diverse 'Let Freedom Ring' CD, which might appeal too.

Cheers, Bob

 

[saxplayer67]

Kinch was the support for David Sanborn at the Barbican in 2003. Kinch ruined the evening before it had started! He was C-R-A-P! He did more rapping than sax playing and when he did play, he was abysmal! One of the worst so-called professional (i.e. he gets paid) 'musicians' it has even been my displeasure to hear. 😡

 

[nick_cook]

He's one of the saxophonists at the BBC Proms jazz night this year.

 

[philthd]

dont take this the wrong way sp67, but there is a tendency for white men above a certain age to hate all rap equally and automatically disregard it when they hear it.

i do think he has gently turned from a sax player who raps into a rapper who plays sax- but the distinction is pretty vague.

for what its worth (ie almost nothing) i reckon hes pretty good.
and on a seperate but related point i think that some peopl ehave a view of what jazz is which is just too narrow

 

[saxplayer67]

No, I don't take it the wrong way. Differences of opinion are healthy and lead to interesting discussions.

Although I don't favour rap as a form of music, I embrace many types of music, not just jazz in all its variations. My main interests from a listening perspective are some film music (itself a wide and varied genre) and jazz (as long as there's a sax!). I have my friend Lalo Schifrin to thank for helping me see that music is music, full stop. Indeed, I've often thought recording a techno/sax piece or something like that.

In the case of Soweto Kinch, I just thought (my opinion) he was a terrible player, not because of the type of music he was playing.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Opera = people singing when they should be talking

Rap = people talking when they should be singing.

And why not?

😉

 

[griff136]

I like that Pete

 

[jambo]

Yes, I agree

 

[Rogerb]

I listened to a few clips of this feller.... he sounds like a reasonable player and, to my uneducated ear, quite a clever rapper and not, as so much of it sounds... to me.... all in the key of C (rap) !

But I wouldn't pay to hear him 😉