Cautious Clay brought a bit of a package tour for his performance at The Bluebird Theater no Friday, February 19, 2022. With the 2021 release of his debut full-length album Deadpan Love, Clay revealed a songwriter who has come into his own with a strong and coherent creative aesthetic that spans and transcends narrow genres and the show beginning to end broke with obvious expectations.
The opening act was Julius Rodriguez on keyboards with drummer Brian Richburg Jr and bassist Philip Norris. It was jazz in that moody yet lively mode that seemed to draw on the mid-to-late 60s NYC jazz vibe. The energy and fluidity of the ensemble felt like classic post-hard bop improv with modern sensibilities in the electronics so a blend of the classic with the accessibly avant-garde. A lot of jazz in the last 40 years is boringly academic in approach and feel but Rodriguez is not cut from that cloth, his blending of almost lounge jazz style, funk and pop was compelling and captivating the entire time his trio was on stage.
Cautious Clay took the stage with a calm and chill charisma and exuded an ease and level of comfort that also didn’t mask how happy he was to see so many people coming out to support this run of shows in Colorado where he had three dates including on in Aspen. Julius Rodriguez took the role of keyboardist, utility percussionist and second guitar. The band rounded out with a bassist, a lead guitarist and a drummer whose names I didn’t catch (sorry, guys) while Cautious Clay (Joshua Karpeh) performed on guitar, flute and saxophone as well as provided the softly yet strongly soulful vocals. Across nearly twenty songs, including the encore, the band showcased why Clay is rapidly gathering a strong fan base with many people seeming to know the words to pretty much every song.
Was the music we got to see hip-hop? Is it R&B? Is it a smooth kind of funk? Is it jazz? It’s all of that and presented in an immediately accessible way due to Clay’s charismatic and relatable energy with words that are capable of articulating challenging feelings and experiences with a rare poetic clarity without offering hackneyed premises. His stories and sentiments hit as real but manifested creatively into song. This wasn’t Clay’s first time in Denver and he related how he had played, perhaps even at the Bluebird Theater then, in 2019 and had had a good time then too and the crowd for this show was certainly enthusiastic. I had only heard the studio material prior to the show but Clay exceeded any expectations I could have had. You might have been excused for thinking he might have performed solo with tracks and maybe one other musician but this performance was proof of his ability to sync with other musicians for the kind of musical alchemy that presents as much stronger and more visceral and vibrant especially when the musicians click and Clay brought with him some people familiar with his material who swung well into the music together with a spontaneity that makes for a striking show. Also the singer’s intelligence and basic human compassion was obvious in his banter with the audience and among his bandmates which makes a subtle but important difference for any artist and how their personality connects with people as fellow humans. If Cautious Clay isn’t playing bigger rooms on his next tour it would be surprising as word gets out.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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