Laura Misch - NNF 2024

The first night of final weekend of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival culminated with a stunning jazz performance from South London music producer, composer and saxophonist Laura Misch. Backed by harpist Marysia Osu, and with Tomáš Kašpar on guitar, and playing their first gig together for five months, Misch eased her band into the Speigeltent groove with the dramatic and spine-tingling sax intro to 'Hide to Seek'. As a set-opener, it certainly set out the stall for the remainder of the evening – richly textured atmospheric playing, with extended chords and slickly phrased modulations, coupled with lush vocals, exquisite harp, smooth guitar, and electronic augmentations.

Most of the set is taken from her acclaimed 2023 album, 'Sample The Sky', although many of the tracks have also been 'regrown' for her brand new sister-release 'Sample The City'. One exception is the slow and moody 'Walk Alone Hear Thoughts of Your Own', which dates back to 2019's 'Lonely City' release.

On 'Wild Swim', which she likens to diving into cold water and feeling alive again, it is her haunting vocals that have the Spiegeltent audience holding their collective breath, whilst 'Portal / Outer Edges' touchingly recalls the passing of her grandfather.

For 'Widening Circles' we are asked to lie down on the Spiegeltent floor for a moment of quiet relaxation, of meditation, or even a power-nap. Amazingly, almost the whole audience complies, even if sitting is more widespread than full-blown recumbence. Either way, it is a magical moment unlike anything I have experienced in the Spiegeltent before, with Misch's vocals and Osu's harp sounding positively hypnotic.

'City Lungs' and 'Listen to the Sky' seems to capture both the loneliness and frenetic pace of London life, the latter having an almost hip-hop backbeat, and appearing to reinforce a point made earlier by Misch about how friendly Norwich seems.

'Climb' is a really early track, dating back to 2017, and is performed with huge amounts of saxophone delay and reverb. It gets off to a false start, and recommences after Misch has explained the desired, correctly applied, effect, comparing it to a 'musical orgasm'.

'Birds Eye' concludes the main set, but we are sent away with an encore of an early song 'Lagoon', a beautiful atmospheric number inspired by Iceland's Blue Lagoon. And Misch's pre-warning about getting the giggles, ever since a friend commented on the ambiguity of the 'dive into my lagoon' line, endearingly comes true, but ends another wonderfully atmospheric music evening within the Adnams Spiegeltent.