Navy Blue Hosts an Intimate Night of Music at The Jazz Cafe [Show Review]

In the midst of an intensive European tour with Loyle Carner, LA-born poet/MC Navy Blue found the time to play an intimate Jazz Cafe show to a handful of diehard fans. Sage returns to the UK with some serious, unheard material under his belt. Over the last week, the artist has alluded to a new project with sixteen mysterious posts, each revealing a track title. This elusive body of work cast its shadow over an already special, off-the-cuff performance.

Before Sage took to the stage, London’s answer to Navy Blue, Jadasea, was tasked with warming up the crowd. Both artists are products of the post–Odd Future, abstract hip-hop renaissance spearheaded by Earl Sweatshirt — a sound that transcended continents and ultimately brought the two together tonight. Performing to a home crowd, Jadasea used this as an opportunity to showcase some new music as well as some fan favourites.

Sage’s last London headline show was part of his Ways of Knowing tour. This was Navy’s major-label debut with Def Jam, after releasing his first three studio albums independently. There’s a clear sonic and conceptual shift on this album, which wasn’t incredibly well-received by fans. Since his 2020 debut, Àdá Irin, Sage has approached music as a form of therapy, embedding his deepest emotions in each track and hoping they resonate with his audience. Using choppy Dilla-esque 4-bar loops as a canvas for his storytelling, this format immediately connected with the audience. Ways of Knowing felt much more polished, palatable and in some ways less sincere than previous releases.

After being dropped by Def Jam, Sage clapped back with Memoirs in Armour, a return to form and his most heartfelt project to date. Tonight, we celebrate this incredible album with notes of his upcoming release, The Sword & The Soaring, thrown in the mix.

Navy opened his performance with “Take Heed”, the opening track from MIA. A track which navigates the complexities of life and death, a track much bigger than Navy himself, and everybody in the room, for that matter. That being said, the importance of remembrance is woven throughout the track, a topic that can be recontextualized by everybody in attendance. “Take Heed” culminates with an excerpt from author Martin Prechtel, a touching articulation following the continuous cycle of life and death, and the knowledge passed down through generations.

Navy stands on stage sporting a Ka legacy T-shirt as this excerpt plays out. I can’t help but think this track is an ode to Ka, the Brownsville Rapper, who tragically passed just over a year ago. His passing was a huge blow to the hip-hop world, especially to Sage. Navy’s sound is unequivocally influenced by Ka’s music, he acted as a mentor for Sage, even appearing on his debut album as a feature. This ideology of knowledge and perspective passing from one generation to the next, painted by Prechtel, could not be more apt.

These bittersweet moments aren’t unusual for a Navy Blue show; his ever-growing discography is teeming with incredibly poetic and raw statements on both his personal life and the world around us. Lines like “why does life feel like a hug and death is just a kiss?” absolutely cut through the audience and remind us why we fell in love with Sage’s music.

It’s not all existential, though; this music is a celebration of life. The final track on MIA “La Noche“ features a hook sung by Navy. His statement for this rare occurrence, “I don’t sing because I’m good at it, I sing because I love life.” Navy’s DJ, Ahwlee (one half of B.Cool-Aid) took the role of back-up singer/ Nat King Cole tribute act, this running joke throughout the show prompted Ahwlee to perform a rendition of “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”.

No Navy Blue show would be complete without an anti-Christopher Columbus chant. The track “1491“ holds what has now become an iconic line, “I used to kiss my Saint Christopher, f*ck Christopher Columbus,” which sage insists you shout at the top of your lungs. Despite the era of Columbus ending over 500 years ago, the damage caused is still prevalent today.

Towards the end of the night, we caught a brief glimpse into Navy’s next project over the course of three tracks, one of which has now been released. The album is set to release on the 11th of November. Mark your calendars.