Hiatus Kaiyote
photo by Prudence Upton
Recorded by Jason Blackwell
Mixed by Harvey O’Sullivan
Recorded at VIVID Live @ Sydney Opera House, Sydney, 31st May 2016.
In a whirlwind five years with two Grammy nominations, multiple world tours, and nods from Erykah Badu, Questlove and Prince, Hiatus Kaiyote meld electric jazz virtuosity with the beat-making dexterity of Flying Lotus and Madlib, and transform it into what the band describes as ‘multi-dimensional, polyrhythmic gangster sh*t’. Singer-guitarist Nai Palm leads the band with her soul-driven force and is backed up by Paul Bender on bass, Simon Mavin on keyboards and drummer Perrin Moss. They released their first album ‘Tawk Tomahawk’ independently in 2012, which garnered attention from Flying Buddha Records and received worldwide distribution that lead them to their first Grammy nomination for the song ‘Nakamarra’ which featured Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest fame on guest vocals. In 2015, they released their second album, titled ‘Choose Your Weapon’ which propelled them to yet another Grammy nomination for the song ‘Breathing Underwater’. This performance at the Sydney Opera House captures the band firing on all cylinders with a bit of help from Sampa The Great.
Airing details: Originally via Zed Digital, 7-8pm, Sunday 30th of October 2016.
Show production and engineering: Branko Cosic.