Tamar Kali at Irondale 5/21
Recently, The Irondale Center in Brooklyn hosted a packed house for a local musical treasure Tamar-Kali and her Psychochamber Ensemble.
As founder, lead vocalist and arranger, Tamar-Kali enchanted the audience with her original compositions. An internationally loved talent – she recently performed in a Tribute to Nina Simone at the Sons d’hiver Festival de Musiques Dans Leval-De-Marne. Tamar-Kali commands one of the most devastatingly powerful voices of the 21st century.
The eight ladies of Psychochamber were stunning in matching variations of the same black jersey dress, provided by talented local designer Trudy Miller Layers.
In metallic tights, black heels and green plugs adorning her ears, T-Kali took her place in front of the ensemble and greeted the crowd with a cheerful, “So how y’all doing?”
Psychochamber’s symphonic presentation was equal parts operatic and uniquely punk. Throughout the eight-song performance, T-Kali conducted the ensemble in true diva fashion. With light snaps and subtle taps to her thighs, she orchestrated two movements that included cinematic reimaginings of some of T-Kali’s favorite artists, including Kate Bush.”That was so hot!” a woman in the audience shouted after Running up that Hill, and Psychochamber was only getting warmed up.
Senseless, an original song that T-Kali had only performed live once before, was inspired by her struggles as an artist in New York – “It can be an uphill battle,” she explained – and features the inspirational lyrics “It’s your life/never mind them/leave the past behind you.”
Tamar-Kali’s new solo album, Black Bottom, hits stores and digital outlets this fall: “[The] concept was to combine the production sound style of Mars Volta with Deftones,” T-Kali explained, “[that same] clarity and intensity, so everything coming through clear but still maintains thickness and melancholy depth.”
Daniela Capistrano www.danielacapistrano.com
