Jay Jay Johanson tops the bill on an exciting evening at the Music Hall

In 1996, Jay Jay Johanson released his recording debut titled Whiskey at the height of the trip-hop boom, following in the wake of bands such as Portishead and Massive Attack. We should be careful, however, not to fall into comfortable generalisations. Johanson already possessed something special that differentiated him from other bands of his generation, and while the aforementioned Bristol bands leaned towards somewhat cinematic, melancholic styles, he added a singing style reminiscent of 50s and 60s crooners.
 

More than fifteen years later, the Swedish singer has managed to evolve without abandoning his roots, and while his earlier proposals at the beginning of this century leaned unabashedly towards the dance floor, he has lately begun to lean towards more sombre ambiences and cadences approaching jazz. To a certain extent he has returned to his roots but, naturally, with all the benefits of accumulated experience. His latest offering is titled Cockroach and is the ninth of his career, and though the album will not be released until September, the advance release is a song titled "Mr. Fredrikson".
 

The other performance on this double bill falls to the hands of Mexican Natalia Lafourcade.