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Marques Toliver

Back in May 2010, I came across a small piece entitled ‘Marques Toliver Stops Traffic’. It was written by Jason Jules, a discerning scribbler who maintains an excellent style blog called Garmsville, and it featured a nice photo of a young guy playing violin and singing in Brick Lane in East London. “Originality is one of those rare things which often fails to impress when it comes to street performers - people tend to stop and appreciate the familiar,” declared an impressed Mr. Jules who immediately proceeded to question this talented young man as to his origins. Hailing from South Daytona via Brooklyn, it transpired that the young troubadour had taken up residence in London town. Friends, fans and collaborators already included Adele, TV On The Radio, Grizzly Bear and Bat For Lashes, but he was yet to be signed and his most regular gig was out on the streets.

A little down the line it turned out that another associate, Hassan Hajjaj, acclaimed Moroccan photographer/artist, had a similar encounter after catching the eye of a young black man carrying a violin in the vicinity of Arnold Circus in Shoreditch. Upon discovering he was off to do some busking Hassan decided to tag along. Blown away by what he heard he immediately invited him to play at a party he was organizing for film-maker Spike Lee. It was a loud and rowdy hip hop rooted affair and not an ideal setting for an acoustic set of voice and violin but Hassan succeeded in getting a degree of quiet and had Marques perform standing on the pool table. It was a punt but it worked. A high profile Bottletop charity bash at the Roundhouse soon followed. A buzz was mounting and along with it a winning BBC TV appearance on Later with Jools.

Marques Toliver is a unique and totally compelling songwriter and live performer and you only have to touch down on him performing ‘White Sails’ for the Black Cab Sessions for confirmation of that. While I may not be convinced that the full-on production of his new single ‘Deep In My Heart’ conveys Marques’ stunning ability to balance space, rhythm and words, I’m definitely going to hang on in there and recommend you check him out live. SXSW or St Giles in the Fields sound good to me!

Marques Toliver’s debut EP ‘Butterflies Are Not Free’ is out 25 April on Bella Union. 

Free download ‘Deep In My Heart’ Marques Toliver - Deep In My Heart by MarquesToliver

Marques Toliver live dates -

16 March - SXSW - French Legation Museum - Bella Union Showcase

16 March - SXSW - Red Eyed Fly - Transgressive Records Showcase

17 March – SXSW - The Old Music Gym

17 March - SXSW - The Ginger Man

17 March – SXSW – Maggie Mae’s

18 March – SXSW – Dirty Dog

19 March – SXSW – Klub Krucial

07 April - St. Giles In The Fields, London

25 April - Rough Trade East, London

30 April - Camden Crawl, London

01 May - Camden Crawl, London

14 May - Unitarian Church - The Great Escape Festival, Brighton

www.myspace.com/marquestoliver

Paul Bradshaw / Straight No Chaser

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