Members and lurkers of this Jacob Collier ABOVO GROUP already know that I am the self-proclaimed world’s biggest fan of Jacob Collier.

The first time I met Jacob and heard him perform live was at the Snarky Puppy Family Dinner Volume 2 live studio recording on Valentine’s Day 2015: http://www.seanfenlon.com/2016/about-jacob-collier-jacobcollier-com-and-dont-you-know-from-snarky-puppy-family-dinner-volume-2/

In September 2016, following the release of Jacob’s first recording, In My Room, I arranged for Jacob to perform a private concert at the John Hopkins Club for my DC/Baltimore YPO Chapter.

We did a brief fireside chat interview with Jacob before the performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e2DxvDsqw8&t=51s

Since Jacob was touring the U.S. promoting his new recording and was in the MD/DC area, his management, Quincy Jones Productions, scheduled a concert a few days later at The Howard Theater in DC.

I purchased several VIP seats to the concert and invited friends that could not attend the private concert a few days earlier.

That Howard Theater concert opened with Ghost Note featuring the one-of-a-kind bass player MonoNeon, who graciously posed for a quick selfie with me and ABOVO advisor Greg Cangialosi:

Greg and his brother James joined me for this concert, along with YPO friends Sid Banerjee, Philip Lowit, and Mark Tornillo (not pictured below):

It was such a stark contrast to see the exact same one-man-band performance in a packed large concert venue with rowdy raving fans vs. the quiet/intimate environment of the John Hopkins Club in front of YPO members and their families: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9TQRHXwpXo

Of course, patient fans were rewarded as usual by waiting outside of the venue after the show that night to meet and greet Jacob, where he proceeded to mesmerize the group with his words and vocals about music: https://twitter.com/seanfenlon/status/783194414751608832

I was able to attend several other performances of Jacob in 2017, including The GroundUP Music Festival in Miami, and shows in Boston at The Bowery and the Isabella Gardener Museum.

However, Jacob took time off from touring in 2018 to work on his new recording – a spectacularly ambitious project call DJESSE, which is to be released in four volumes (Volume 1 was released earlier in 2019 and Volume 2 is scheduled for release in a few weeks).

Jacob announced a 2019 world tour to promote DJESSE and included a date for a return visit to The Howard Theater in DC on May 16, 2019.

I took advantage of a special deal I made with Jacob back in 2016 to purchase several VIP tickets to the show, this time being joined by friends:

·         Kyle Coughlin

·         Ramon Castro

·         Laurent Cardot

·         Greg Cangialosi (repeat-attendee)

·         John Reilly

·         James Cangialosi (repeat-attendee and Greg’s brother)

·         Philip Lowit (repeat-attendee and not pictured below)

The concert opening act was one-of-a-kind songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Becca Stevens.

Becca and Jacob are very good friends as well as colleagues. In October 2017, they recorded the joyful tour de force “Bathtub” video together.

I don’t know for sure, but it’s possible that they first met during Snarky Puppy Family Dinner Volume 2.

One thing for certain is that Becca’s riveting solo performance on the SPFDv2 DVD immediately follows the last note of Jacob’s “Don’t You Know” track:

Becca completely captivated the entire standing-room-only audience with some of her favorites such as “As” by Stevie Wonder…

…and also her own song “I asked” from SPFDv2 (having the audience perform the role of the band in the 15/4 outro with the mmm… m mmm… m mmm… mmm… m pattern):

Via DJESSE, Jacob has evolved his one-man show into the Jacob Collier GROUP – a quartet also featuring brilliant young and emerging artists/vocalists/multi-instrumentalists  MARO, Rob Mullarkey, and Christian Euman.

Jacob’s quartet performed several selections from DJESSE Volume 1, “Make me Cry” from Volume 2, and several fan favorites from the 2016/17 tour, including “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Close to You,” “Hideaway,” and “Don’t You Know.”

A fascinating dimension Jacob added to the show was by using the audience (composed of what appeared to be mostly made up of musicians) as an instrument.

This technique is reminiscent of Bobby McFerrin’s 1999 DVD “Try This at Home”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpGGwjNsrdc

I had previously discussed this McFerrin DVD performance (and my brief obsession with it)with Jacob in the past, so I know that it was already on his radar.

Interesting side note, I gave this DVD as a gift to my entire startup team in 2009 which generated more than a few peculiar looks back at me at the time – I feel vindicated by the fact that a genius like Jacob ostensibly also felt a strong influence from McFerrin’s epic performance. :-)

I captured and stitched together several highlight moments of the show, and then outside of the venue after the show and uploaded them to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeq0ubo8Nxg

I also gathered my requisite collection of extreme-excitement photos and selfies with Jacob and his group:

Jacob Collier & Sean Fenlon

MARO & Sean Fenlon

Rob Mullarkey and Christian Euman & Sean Fenlon and Ramon Castro

At the very end, I saw Becca Stevens emerge and stop to speak with some fans. From behind her, I loudly shouted the words “Tune Mammals,” which instantly got her attention.

Via the documentary-like footage on the Snarky Puppy Family Dinner Volume 2 DVD, I learned that Becca Stevens came from a touring musical family and that when she was a kid, her parents named their group “Tune Mammals.” She even sings a few quick samples on the DVD, which I have memorized since I’ve watched it countless times.

As she started heading off to catch her ride, I asked for a quick selfie. She agreed, but only because I brought up “Tune Mammals” and grabbed her sister (another member of the “Tune Mammals”) who was coincidentally attending this particular show in DC:

Ramon Castro grinning about the episode in the background. ;-)

Also, one final selfie taken (requisite Instagram tilt ;-) with Ramon and Jacob Collier’s Chief Technologist and Sound Engineer, Ben Bloomberg. :-)

All-in-all, just another mind-altering experience filled with music, joy, laughter, brilliance, and fun.

I STILL believe that Jacob Collier is the single most-talented musician walking the planet today:

I’m reasonably certain that Quincy Jones STILL agrees with me as well. :-)

https://www.abovo.co/seanfenlon@gmail.com/49006