Jason Mraz @ Manchester Academy
When a performer's stylistic influence comes from virtually every corner of the musical map, it's hard to know what to expect. With hints at jazz, reggae, soul and hip-hop, Jason Mraz is without a doubt one of the most noteworthy American songwriters of the last decade.
Having scored his first UK Top 20 hit with characteristically mellow I'm Yours in 2008, Mraz has certainly pulled in the masses tonight. It's a young, largely female audience so the air is suitably cackling with excited giggles and piercing screams of anticipation; there's a buzz about the venue to suggest that, tonight, we're in for quite a treat.
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You know things won't be taking a predictable course, however, as the singer's band emerge through blue light and fog to what sounds like the otherworldly underscore to a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey. You get the further impression of something strange afoot when a black, beard-wearing percussionist enters in a trilby and dark shades carrying a garish garden ornament under his arm.
Striking up the ten or twelve-strong band, Mraz launches into upbeat number Make It Mine to a boisterous reception from the swelling crowd. Trumpets, trombones and saxophones flail to the beat of well-weathered bongos creating a genuine jam band feel. All that's missing is a string bass and head-height stratus of cigar smoke.
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Mraz appears rakish but fashionably dishevelled in loose fitting clothes and the same straw hat that's echoed on the head of every teenage boy in the room. "Give it up for my super band," he cries before taking a step back from the microphone, prompting the audience to wild for a bald trombonist who takes centre stage with an improvised solo.
Tonight's show is littered with touches of jazz in fact, with a bossanova, samba or funk beat to support every one of the acoustic wonderboy's works of art. A punchy version of Only Human sees the dramatic summoning of a roadie to adjust the height of a cymbal that's not quite where it's striker would like; these are experienced artists brimming with musicianship, but seen joking and smiling throughout, their relaxed posture and visible humour give proceedings a light and uplifting mood.
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Perhaps, at times, the jazz club atmosphere takes such a strong hold that there's a sense of a divided room. The bandleader and his cohorts are in their element, jamming and bopping to improv nonsense while the audience stand aghast at the length of playful musical interludes that make knowing when to applaud the continuous stream of pop bliss damn near impossible.
The star of the show, quite rightly, is Mraz with his impeccable voice control and awe-striking stage presence. Leading the eager crowd in a bout of inexplicable scat voodoo, he points and wiggles his fingers, directing unisons of "Oooooh" and "Mmmmmm" comprising various discordant frequencies. It's a very odd moment to say the least.
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Powering on with a tip-top selection of his flagship tunes though, we're then offered the quietest number of the night so far. Mraz subconsciously commands silence during a tender and sedate version of A Beautiful Mess but, quite predictably, the air remains awash with sporadic yelps of "I love you Jason."
The final chorus of this sweet and sensitive performance sends a tingle right down the spine as Mraz's voice comes close to buckling under the overwhelming emotion with which he delivers it. It's raw, evocative power provides a brilliant canvas for the phenomenal vocal range and accuracy the songsmith displays with every crisp note.
Crowd-pleaser Lucky sees Norwegian support artist Marit Larsen recalled from the wings for a heart-warming collaboration that feels impromptu and carefully rehearsed in equal measure. "She's a crazy slut," declares Mraz in a display of cheeky humour, but the doe-eyed beauty looks anything but in her knee-length frock and babydoll heels.
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By far the most rapturous screeching and applause is saved for chilled-out anthem I'm Yours which has the entire room bouncing uncontrollably. In an extended version of the song, its creator scats like a madman before departing the stage for a breather which allows his band another musical crusade with more improvised solos.
As Mraz rejoins the line-up, the crowd are finally silenced in complete amazement by the stark, haunting lullaby of Absolutely Zero. With not a single bum note in sight, it's another display of this man's enormous talent for holding a note. Finishing with an explosive version of Butterfly, the singer dashes back and forth, grinning, taking Polaroid pictures and scattering them into the crowd.
No one could deny the entertainment factor of this budding star's live show. Laden with jazz appeal, peppered with madness; a night with Jason Mraz is easily worth £20 of anyone's money.
FemaleFirst - Anthony Hill
Photos by Lee Elliott
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