Ever since their brilliant, 'album of the year'-deserving 2022 debut NOT TiGHT, seeing jazz-hip-hop-fusion prodigies DOMi & JD BECK live became a priority. So, when the Toronto Jazz Festival announced the duo would be taking over the Danforth Music Hall, I scooped up tickets immediately. In the days leading up to the show, the anticipation shifted from just another concert to a potentially historic event. The duo began dropping cryptic snippets of new music on their socials, signalling that something new may be on the horizon. This was eventually confirmed with the announcement that the duo would be playing their new album on this upcoming run. Toronto wasn't just another tour stop anymore; it was the global debut of a brand new chapter.
Stepping into the Danforth, Toronto's own DJ Agile was already working the crowd with a well sequenced, vibey set of hip-hop and R&B. The energy was high, the crowd was hype, everyone seemed to be in good spirits. But when it came time for the main event, the crowd endured a significant lull. For what felt like a grueling, thirty-minute tech check, an assortment of fart sounds and ghastly screams played over the PA. What initially was received as lighthearted, juvenile humour quickly devolved into psychological warfare. Then finally, the grotesque soundtrack crossfaded into a beautiful introductory playback, the stage lights dimmed, and the duo assumed their positions on a lone, unadorned riser at centre stage.
What followed was a ripping suite of fantastical, hyperactive jams. The new material prominently featured whimsical, fairytale-esque flute melodies and rapid-fire, click-clack percussion. If their debut album was called NOT TiGHT, the prevailing thought during this onslaught of notes was that the follow-up should simply be called NOT CHiLL. To the crowd, the duo looked like they were in their element with DOMi kicking up her dizzying piano whirlwinds as BECK executed intricate strings of rudiments with surgical precision.
However, the few interactions the duo had with the nearly sold-out audience might've revealed some opening night apprehension. They were quick to throw out disclaimers: the live arrangements were massively stripped back compared to what's on the record, they were playing live to a click track for the very first time, and they had only scraped together six days of practice before beginning the trek. "Welcome to rehearsal," DOMi quipped half-heartedly to the audience. My partner, a seasoned musical theatre aficionado, always said it's not a good idea to go on opening night. As the set progressed, that piece of advice began to ring true.
Those opening night kinks manifested in a couple different ways. There were noticeable lighting mis-cues in which DOMi and JD BECK were forced to perform in pitch black darkness at times. Awkward talk-back mic delays greatly distracted from BECK's shy addresses, and DOMi experienced equipment failure mid-song; of course. But the most egregious technical blunder was the sound. It remains a mystery how a sound engineer could fail to balance a fundamentally modest setup: a couple of keyboards, a pared down drum kit, and a stereo backing track. From my perspective, the Danforth was treated to a brick-walled, incredibly muddy mix that buried the nuance in DOMi's playing and made every single drum stick strike painfully piercing. Whether it was a touring engineer or an in-house hire, I don't think they understood what the duo brought to the table and how best to present that to the audience.
Despite the technical turbulence, DOMi & JD BECK took everything in stride, proving they are every bit the real deal in person as they are on record. They battled physical exhaustion with BECK commenting at one point “I can't believe we wrote this,” in reference to how demanding this new material clearly was to perform. Thankfully, upping the musicianship to another level didn't cause the duo's chemistry to become unstable. They remained in lockstep the entire time, demonstrating that their chemistry is the stuff of legend. And it didn't go unnoticed; the Toronto crowd was fiercely on their side, erupting into ecstatic applause at every possible moment even though they had no prior experience with the new material.
There were a couple of familiar anchors thrown into the set that I really appreciated. At one point, the duo went into an extended jam that resembled the intro to the NOT TiGHT cut DUKE. And when the crowd insistently chanted for an encore the duo clearly hadn't prepared for, they returned to the stage to deliver a flawless rendition of my absolute favorite track, WHATUP. Walking out onto Danforth Avenue, my feelings were inherently split. It's impossible not to feel a twinge of frustration when bad sound betrays world-class players. Yet, I left more convinced than ever of their undeniable star power.
More than anything, the show left me deeply intrigued by what the studio versions of these tracks will hold. The relentless energy and whimsical melodies are begging to be heard through a lush and pristine presentation. That intrigue only magnified the very next day when the duo formally announced their sophomore album; true to the duo's self-deprecating nature, it's titled WHO ASKED?. The thorough post revealed a lot of interesting tidbits. While NOT TiGHT wasn't completely an instrumental album, WHO ASKED? appears to put more stock in lyrical themes and vocals. Anderson.Paak is credited for the lyrics on one track, but the vocals are surprisingly performed entirely by the duo. The most eye-opening piece of information is that Zach Hill (of Death Grips and Hella fame) is credited as a sound designer all throughout the record. For the madman drummer and experimental icon, it's an unusual title that elicits many questions as to how his influence will impact their follow-up. All things considered, the duo's new record has quickly rocketed to the top of my most anticipated releases of the year.
DOMi and JD BECK's WHO ASKED? is slated for release via APESHIT/Blue Note on July 31st.
