Going by the rammed Folklore Rooms tonight momentum is gathering around Brighton poet, promoter, musician and rapper Jed Wright’s ‘basics’ sessions. The multi-genre gig which merges music and spoken word opened in March last year and now we’re already onto ‘basics volume 4’. Previous nights have featured amongst many others: storyteller/poet and troubadour Tagore Chayne, jazz chanteuse AVIJE, rock-soul power trio Stone Jets, the dream-wave folksinger Rea and award-winning poet Cecelia Knapp. So you get the vibe, ‘basics’ guarantees a swathe of entertainment from a sweep of rising bands, solo performers and wordsmiths from the Brighton scene and not too far beyond.

Chatting to Jed a couple of days before the latest basics get-together he admitted to not feeling confident early on that the idea would work:
“I think I was a bit more nervous about the response when I initially started it- the first headliner we had was a hip hop act and I was like if people are coming for that are they really going to appreciate that folk singer as well… but people really enjoyed it“.
That success continued with the two subsequent ‘basics’ shows last year which were also staged in Folklore’s cosy den above The Quadrant. Jed reckoned that this intimate, seated setting was ideal for the stripped back delivery and face to face connections that ‘basics’ sessions thrive on. So, for now, the venue has become its home ground.

There’s certainly an easy-going calm floating around the room as people wander into the soft lights and cool jazz to bag their stool. The tightly packed stage looks out expectantly and the conversations bubble before lights dim and Jed, compere for the night, welcomes the opener for ‘volume 4’, Amy Palmer. Reviewed in The Source at the end of last year when she played a SoFar session amongst the trainsets at the Toy Museum, the Brighton based neo-soul singer continues to offer some tingling, pop-toned R & B. Her voice really is something else, effortlessly sliding from Sade smooth to Erykah crisp but shaped around her own personality. Starting off with simmering funk of ‘Trip’ she tells us that tonight’s set covers her go-to stories of unravelling loves and break-ups, staple subjects maybe but told with growing confidence and flare. “Is it sunshine or lightning you’ll bring today” she wonders on ‘The Problem Is You’ injecting this fine song with a fragile chill that you can feel. Backed as usual by Frank Thompson’s mellow guitar, the pair intuitively weave threads of jazz, hip-hop and even bossa into the songs, keeping the crowd with them right through to the last chiming chord.

So far SoFar Sessions maybe, but next up comes London Poet and insta-slaying Danny Mash. Before the night Jed was clear that the spoken word dimension to ‘basics’ nights was crucial, giving the shows a pivot which “draws the whole audience in”. That direct engagement is exactly what Danny Mash does from the off through some impish crowd banter and sharp satirical verse. He’s a master of the sting in the tail, taking everyday trivia material and working it towards a biting point, like in the opening poem ‘Meal Deal’ where his miscalculation of an offer exemplifies “cis white male stress”. It’s Mash’s welcoming conversational delivery which keeps you on his side. Without haranguing he still opens your eyes with poems which sweep between personal isolation and the climate crisis. The resoundingly brilliant dismantling of tabloid stoked bigotry in ‘Beautiful British’ is the centre piece in an uplifting set which resolves in the warm, affirming simplicity of ‘Plates That Are Bowls Too’ (“Weetabix with a bit of Oatly-three biscuits, four if I’m lonely”).

Organiser Jed’s promised leftfield ingredient in the basics mix follows on from the spoken word without a jolt. London-based Australian cellist and guitarist William Jack may be classically trained but his solo music shakes free from any stuffy expectations. Opener ‘U-Bhan Blues’ sees him transforming the cello into a thrilling rhythmic dynamo before its more familiar yearning song returns. It’s rule breaking and thrilling with Jack’s tonal variations as atmospheric as anything Oliver Coates conjures up. The surprises don’t stop there. He attaches pegs to his instrument’s A and D strings to play a piece which drifts moodily between Arabic drone, raga tones and swelling melodies. Then Jack goes full-rogue, turns his cello on its side to play guitar style through a blistering, bluesy hoedown and a gorgeous version of Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright’. There are whoops and gasps from the boggle-eyed crowd, giddy on those pulsating percussive runs and wild jigging twists.

It’s up to Brighton’s own rising R & B star Kymara to round off ‘basics Volume 4’ , which feels like quite a coup for Jed and co. The room seems to bustle just a little more as the singer and full band sidle into place, the keys player set up off stage just to add to the intimacy. Kymara is a beaming presence and that uplifting energy immediately fills the room. Her set glides in with the gospel hums of ‘Look Up Boy’ followed by the old soul sway of ‘Current Weather’ where the peeling guitar and Kymara’s softly powerful vocal brings out the soukous glow of the song. After easing in tenderly that voice and the band purr up through the gears from the rising drama of ‘You Don’t Know Me’, with it’s organ swirls and spiralling guitar break, to the bumping funky stride of ‘Elephant Walk’. A shout must go out to Guy Jones on sound here, the dynamics are as immaculate as they have been all night, even with this breath-taking big band reaching their set’s pinnacle. Encoring with sharp neo-soul strut of ‘New Road’ Kymara’s poise, humility and effortless grace is a magnetic watch, leaving you feeling this could become an ‘I was there’ moment.

Winding down the rickety stairs away from the gig brought to mind Jed Wright’s own comment on what he’s learned from organising these nights. “Its really made me think that genres are fusing and most people aren’t fussy about the genres as long as its good quality music” he reflected. Sustaining that quality is a guiding principle for ‘basics’ and one that, on tonight’s evidence, it won’t give up on.

The Folklore Rooms, Thursday 20th March 2025
Words by John Parry
Photos by Henry Warren