Montreal International Jazz Festival | Tash Sultana: all talents

The Montreal International Jazz Festival has invited the incredible Tash Sultana for its grand opening show. For an hour and a half, the artist filled our eyes and ears.

Marissa Groguhe
The Press

Tash Sultana is often described as a one person band. A single person who works as if there were six on stage. A group of musicians on its own. In the YouTube videos that the artist presented in the mid-2010s (before the international success that we know him now), we could already see his way of handling the loop pedal and all his instruments to create intoxicating melodies. On the big Jazz stage, Tash Sultana did us the honor of showing us what it looks like on stage. Hint: it’s impressive.

The artist from Australia has all the talents. For more than half of his performance, no one accompanied him on stage. Around Tash Sultana was rather a slew of instruments of all kinds. And, above all, a loop station to shape the soundtrack of our Thursday evening. A superb framework at the same time electro, soul, pop, reggae and jazz. The musical moments were sometimes groovy, other times sulphurous or melancholy.

We could not count the number of instruments Sultana played during the evening. The fact that we have lost count is a good indicator of the magnitude of the task accomplished. You had to see the artist at work, it was fascinating.

Each song started with the same ritual. Tash Sultana would switch between instruments – guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, etc. – and gradually added the instrumental layers of his track. This part completed, the voice joined the parade. This voice is high and clear, sometimes tinged with a pleasant hoarseness. And when the artist did not sing, it was to leave plenty of room for long and splendid all-instrumental moments.

Often, surprise, the artist has found a way to impress us a little more. Whether with a saxophone, a flute, a trumpet…

When we felt the musical moment at its peak, the multi-instrumentalist artist took out a new card from his sleeve.

And it was never just to strum (or blow out) two or three notes, just to say. Tash Sultana really, really knows how to play.

group effort

After approximately three quarters of an hour of show, musicians came to give more relief to the songs which followed. We found it ingenious on the part of the artist to show this part of his work which made him known and which made his uniqueness, namely this ability to need no one to give a complete, high quality show. We found it just as relevant to see Sultana surround herself with instrumentalists who allowed her to stand in front of the crowd, acoustic or electric guitar in hand, to give her audience a moment of delight.

Speaking of the public, the Place des Festivals was completely packed.

And as noted by Tash Sultana (who couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw everyone in front of the stage), there were people of all ages, all backgrounds, all genders in the crowd.

The fact of having three accompanying musicians on stage did not prevent the artist from grabbing different instruments to perform frenzied solos, here and there, or returning to his loop station on occasion, again in mode one person band (this is how the show ended). We were captured in moments of shivers, of pure wonder.

Tash Sultana’s music, even more showy, is an ode to instruments, like a tribute to all they have to offer. A wonderful moment of music. The choice to put Tash Sultana as the headliner of the Jazz’s opening night was the right one. The festivities are officially launched. And in a wonderful way.