Myele Manzanza with support by Chris Dowding

Approx running times:

Chris Dowding 8pm – 8:30pm
Myele Manzanza 9pm – end

“I was raised around rhythm and always understood it as a physical relationship,” Manzanza says. “It moves you – in every way.” Growing up in New Zealand and taking inspiration from his Congolese master percussionist father, Manzanza has carved out a distinct path through hip-hop, house, electronics and improvisation – unifying each style with his deeply-felt, embodied approach.

He first came to prominence as a founding member of future soul group Electric Wire Hustle, channelling the sensuous swing of D’Angelo, J Dilla and the Soulquarians in their 2009 debut, self-titled album. He was also selected as a participant in the 2010 Red Bull Music Academy, & Detroit house producers Recloose and Theo Parrish soon tapped him to tour in their live groups, allowing Manzanza to further explore the connections between jazz swing, dance music and the rhythms of the African diaspora. “Theo was a teacher, allowing me to translate electronic drum beats onto the kit and getting closer to a sense of my own sound,” he says.

That chameleonic capability of switching styles, while keeping his own sense of solid groove, has since made Manzanza a sought-after collaborator, working with everyone from producers Mark de Clive-Lowe and Amp Fiddler to composer Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Jordan Rakei, pianist Ashley Henry, saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and producer Hudson Mohawke. “I trust the music and get out of my own way to let it speak for itself,” he says of his collaborative process. “You can’t get too much into the head, otherwise you lose the spirit of the song – the thing that roots the music in us as humans.”

Since relocating to London in 2019, Manzanza has been delving deeper into that grounded spirit of his music, establishing his solo career as one of the capital’s most remarkable bandleaders and producers. “It has been a continual process of honing in deeper and deeper on my sound ever since my debut album One in 2012,” he explains. “That record came from a beatmaker mentality and the follow-up OnePointOne in 2016 was about translating it into the live space. It was then on 2019’s A Love Requited that I began a personal exploration into finding my voice as a composer.” Now, the pinnacle of this journeying process and eclectic taste comes in his ambitious five-part album series Crisis & Opportunity.