Nanao Tavito is an interesting one. One one hand he is an accomplished, talented and interesting singer songwriter. On the other he has penned and performed some true jams. I suppose to appreciate his work you have to meet him somewhere in the middle between art and top 40’s, and this seems to be a place that he is comfortable staying.
His Saturday afternoon Field of Heaven set started with the extended down-tempo folk jam airplane, loaded with slide guitars and clattering percussion all building to a climax of vocals through delay and distortion pedals screaming like a wall of feedback. It was a big opening. He followed it up by relaxing a bit and getting a bit funkier and poppier for a stretch. Kimi wa Utsukushi especially had some grab to it, nice bass synths under the summer sun. Rollin’ Rollin’, one of his best known songs, was performed rearranged to sound a little more ‘city at night’, despite the previously mentioned summer sun. But infectious bass lines and dynamic movements and breaks made even this new version of the classic fresh and funky.
Throw in some rap with loop effectors on the vocals and you have made a convert of me.
He followed this up with an extended version of Circus Night, another of his most popular songs, a dreamy, sexy little jam.
Nanao Tavito, in the end, for the Field of Heaven vibe perfectly. It was music that was challenging enough to be interesting and engaging but sugar coated enough to go down easy on a relaxing afternoon.