Catch Beatboxer Mr. Woodnote at Cool Chef Cafe

Saxophone player-beatboxer Mr. Woodnote and singer-rapper Eva Lazarus were the surprise stand-out act at the recent York Live festival in Nashik, where the line-up included such formidable names as multi-instrumentalists Shri and Karsh Kale. The UK-based duo of Mr. Woodnote and Eva Lazarus, who will perform this Saturday, January 28, along with guest artist, sitar player Imran Khan, at Cool Chef Café, might bring to mind another beatboxer-singer combo—Australia’s Dub FX and Flower Fairy. Dub FX aka Benjamin Stanford and Mr. Woodnote aka Michael Melican are in fact friends. Woodnote, who also hails from Australia, started beatboxing only after he met Dub FX and they started performing together.

Woodnote met Lazarus through what he called a “blind musical date” that they set up after he saw videos of her singing on YouTube. That initial “improvised musical interaction” was “magical” said Woodnote, who has been performing with Lazarus for about a year-and-a-half now. Woodnote usually performs with MC Lil Rhys—with whom he toured India in October 2011—while Lazarus fronts Bristol dance act Dub Mafia; their coming together is an expected yet immensely enjoyable mix of jazz, soul and hip hop sounds.

However, Woodnote—who calls himself a “cheatboxer” because he extensively uses a loop station to make beatboxing a compositional tool—said that he doesn’t think of music in terms of different styles but in more abstract terms such as “bouncy”, “funky” and “happy”, which were the same words Lazarus used to describe one of their songs, thus far only referred to as “Untitled” (watch a clip of it here). Their set lists are usually a mix of songs from Mr. Woodnote and Lil Rhys’s debut album, Modus Operandi; Dub Mafia songs; and Lazarus’s solo material. The tunes are almost always improvised on the spot to create what Woodnote called “live remixes”, with Lazarus and he building on cues given by the other on stage.

Cool Chef Cafe

LocationThadani House
329/A Worli Village
Off the Bandra-Worli Sea Link
Near the Indian Coast Guard office
Worli

Phone2430 1127

Relevant DatesSaturday, January 28

Hours9pm

Ticketing & Price InfoRs300 (gets you a free beer)

Websitewww.coolchefcafe.com