Manchester-born, London-based songwriter, saxophonist, poet and orator Alabaster DePlume has announced the new album Come With Fierce Grace which is out on 9/8/23– and has shared the album’s lead single “Did You Know,” which features the hauntingly beautiful vocals of Momoko Gill (aka MettaShiba). Following a run of European shows opening for Bon Iver, Alabaster’s tour dates continue to expand – with a whole month of shows spanning the United States. Full list of shows below.
Come With Fierce Grace is a collection of tracks drawn from the same sessions as Alabaster’s much-lauded double LP GOLD. Rather than a collection of B-sides, it’s a continuation of the organic collaborative and improvisational process that he established… almost as if GOLD has grown a new limb or aged into a new phase.
On the album’s lead single “Did You Know,” singer and drummer Momoko Gill (aka MettaShiba) takes the key poem from GOLD and translates it into her own lyrics. Gill had already delivered the message of the poem and sang it across tons of shows with Alabaster – but with her performance on “Did You Know” she lays out her own meaning for the words. In the background of “Did You Know,” you hear Alabaster playing the key melody that accompanied the original poem on GOLD; but here the feeling is re-established by the improvisers who were recreating the arrangement in the moment, purely for the sake of enjoying each other at the time.
UK & EU DATES
7 Jul 2023 – Rotterdam, The Netherlands @ North Sea Jazz – Tickets
9 Jul 2023 – Lausanne, Switzerland @ Festival de la Cité
14 Jul 2023 – Ghent, Belgium @ Boomtown – Tickets
15 Jul 2023 – Paris, France @ Paris Jazz – Tickets
5 Aug 2023 – Eigg, Scotland @ Howlin’ Fling – Tickets
11 Aug 2023 – Dorset, UK @ We Out Here – Tickets
19 Aug 2023 – Buckinghamshire, UK @ Stowaway – Tickets
20 Aug 2023 – Brecon Beacons, Wales @ GreenMan – Tickets
7-Nov-2023 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
8-Nov-2023 – Manchester, UK @ Band On The Wall
9-Nov-2023 – Nottingham, UK @ Metronome
10-Nov-2023 – London, UK @ KOKO, Pitchfork Music Festival
11-Nov-2023 – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
12-Nov-2023 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
US & CA DATES
26 Aug 2023 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Getty
27 Aug 2023 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
29 Aug 2023 – San Diego, CA @ Whistle Stop
30 Aug 2023 – Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge
1 Sep 2023 – Modesto, CA @ The Speakeasy at Greens on Tenth
2 Sep 2023 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
3 Sep 2023 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Kuumbawa Jazz Center
5 Sep 2023 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
6 Sep 2023 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
8 Sep 2023 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10 Sep 2023 – Denver, CO @ Ophelia’s
15 Sep 2023 – Chicago, IL @ Co-Prosperity
16 Sep 2023 – Chicago, IL @ Co-Prosperity
17 Sep 2023 – Toronto, ON @ Rivoli
18 Sep 2023 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
20 Sep 2023 – New Orleans, LA @ Music Box Village
22 Sep 2023 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Hall
24 Sep 2023 – Accord, NY @ Woodsist Festival
Tickets & more info here
