- Words Notion Staff
- Photography by Lauren Joy Kennett
Friday night was a more chilled out affair at Notion's The Great Escape Stage with some of London's best jazz and soul musicians joining us on the seafront.
After the whirlwind opener of Thursday night, Friday night on the Notion stage was a markedly more chilled affair. Leaning on the sounds of modern jazz and neo-soul, everyone from upstart AADAE to London’s king of keys Kamaal Williams graced our stage, bringing some more relaxed vibes to the seafront yesterday evening.
AADAE kicked off the night to a packed room at Shooshh, backed by a full live band. Over the course of her set, she ran through early tracks like the haunting ‘Die Happy’ as well as a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Lotus Flower’ both of which proved immensely popular with the assembled crowd.
Not long after and it was Ama Lou’s turn on stage. Dressed in a shorts-jumper co-ord with sovereign rings on every finger she brought her hip hop-inspired R&B to Shooshh, winning the crowd over immediately. With a set heavy on material from her new EP DDD, she upped the ante as things got a little later, testing out the bass and igniting the first dance moves of the night.
With night drawing in one of South London’s most exciting voices stepped up in the form of Poppy Ajudha. Her velvet tones enticing festival-goers in off the seafront meant that Shooshh was packed as ever as she performed a selection of her jazz-tinged, neo-soul tracks. However, the highlight of her set was an unexpected cover of Solange’s modern classic ‘Cranes In The Sky’, a song few but Poppy could pull off as their own.
The evening’s biggest triumph was from headliner Kamaal Williams. Commanding a crowd so large that people were queuing down the promenade, Williams and his full live band performed a roaring set of cutting-edge jazz, closing Friday in perfect style. Take a look at the highlights of the night above and join us one last time at Shooshh tonight for an all-female festival line-up with Mina Rose, Flohio and more.