Oz and Da Instrumentals @ Fort Street Cafe - October 19/2010

I witnessed something on Tuesday that went criminally without notice. Greenlaw's Oz and Da Instrumentals took the stage live at the Fort Street Cafe. I don't blame you for not being there. Upon looking for something to do, the name just flared up my interest. Why not? It's always a thrill to see live music.

When I arrived, they were already a half hour deep. I was introduced to a brave combination of jazz, hip hop, funk and dub. Problem: I was the only one there. From what I understand, Oz and Da Instrumentals is a two man group. Oz himself seems to rotate between pounding the keys to ripping up the bass. He also DJs around the Victoria area. In fact, I think this guy has a project every day of the week.

There wasn't any slow prodding music here. Everything was in place to initiate a dance party. The drummer was amazing. He made it look so easy without breaking a sweat, and I'm not talking about some simple AC/DC drumming, no, this was all over the map. You could tell these two have been playing together for quite a long time. There were other players in this equation that would sway in and out depending on Oz's instructions. There was a pianist and a trumpet player [which I was told, they all had never played together until that night]. Later in the set, they were joined by a female vocalist which gave it almost a Zero 7 presence. You could tell that everyone was improvising and they did it well. Her voice was great. Very jazz oriented, but points off for dropping the cliche "the revolution will not be televised", but that's just nitpicking. The best part of the show was the sudden impulse call outs for solos. Whether it was a bass solo, a piano solo, a drum solo and the smooth solo of the trumpet that handled itself like a vocal line until the vocalist came in. Since there wasn't really anyone there, there was a freedom to just have fun with it. At one point, with Oz on keyboards, the band rallied into a drum n' bass groove you'd most likely here at a place like Hush.

It was great to see a band not get bummed out by a low turn out and see it as an opportunity to let loose. The show itself ran for two and a half hours with breaks. There were a few people that did trickle in, which I am glad for, but here's to hoping the next time you hear about Oz and Da Instrumentals, you'll be dancing to their unique blend of music.

Written by Dylan Jackson