Caesar goes down smooth

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This article was published 16/06/2018 (2667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Of all the headlining artists of the 2018 Winnipeg International Jazz Festival, no one is more timely than R&B phenom Daniel Caesar.

The 23-year-old performer from Toronto — whose given name is Ashton Simmonds — has had a massive year. Since the release of his debut album Freudian in August 2017, Caesar has become one of the most buzzed-about young R&B artists not only in Canada, but internationally as well. Freudian was nominated for two Grammy Awards, won two Juno Awards (but was nominated for six) and earlier this week, it was revealed the record earned Caesar a place on the Polaris Music Prize Long List.

But the accolades constantly flying Caesar’s way don’t seem to have affected him much. He could not have been more chill while walking on stage after a brief musical intro, a towel covering his head. And he could not have been more friendly in his interactions with the crowd, which were frequent.

Caesar opened his set with Japanese Denim, and after only one song it became obvious why he gets so much attention.

He has an effortless swag that makes him shine on stage, even when he’s just standing still at the mike.

Caesar knows when to get lost in the song, when to encourage the crowd to sing along; when it’s time for fun and when to pour on the emotion.

He also possesses a voice that drips with classic R&B sultriness; his lower range is full and round with a hint of vibrato in all the right places, his falsettos are controlled and sweet, his runs and fast-moving lyrics perfectly on point.

It’s Caesar’s first time in Winnipeg, which he made note of after commenting on the enthusiasm of the crowd. The screams were akin to those at a pop superstar’s arena tour in both decibel and octave.

“This is the loudest crowd I’ve dealt with,” he later added with a laugh.

Caesar’s setlist was made up mostly of tracks from Freudian, including a particularly charged rendition of Neu Roses (Transgressor’s Song) — this moment in particular highlighted Caesar’s great ability to get some real power behind his vocals — followed by a stripped down version of Best Part, a fan favourite, that featured Caesar on the electric guitar.

For most of the night, Caesar was backed by a band including drums, guitar, bass and keys (with Caesar picking up the guitar a few times) and also used clips from the album recordings with backing vocals to help flesh out the arrangements. Like Caesar, it was a pretty relaxed set up, but it certainly did the job.

We Find Love was another stand-out moment; the anthemic track with an epic mid-song key change united the entire room in a purposeful sway. He followed that with the stunning Blessed, which rounded out his 60-minute main set in a powerful singalong, Caesar reaching down to shake dozens of outstretched hands before ducking off stage.

Caesar returned quickly for one-song encore, bottle of liquor in hand, and immediately got pelted in the face with a blue bra as he instructed the full house — now almost entirely on their feet — to sing the opening verse of the uber-sexy Get You.

He thanked the crowd a few more times before leaving as he entered; quietly and without a fuss.

DJ Do Not Push — a friend of Caesar’s from Toronto opened the night with a quick set of pop, hip-hop and R&B mixes that got the crowd dancing from the floor to the second balcony, creating the biggest dance party the Burt has seen in likely quite some time.

Caesar plays the Burton Cummings Theatre again Saturday.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel