If you had trekked up to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on the first Wednesday of October, expecting to hear André 3000 tick through his greatest hits from his OutKast days, you would’ve been confused by what you witnessed. Even if you had heard that André 3000 had given up rapping in favor of the flute, you would have been surprised by what you saw from his New Blue Sun Live show.
In truth, the hip-hop legend-turned-instrumental impresario didn’t once press his lips to a traditional silver flute during his 90-minute set in L.A. Instead, he primarily blew his wind into a digital flute, along with stints on a Mayan flute, bamboo flute, and even a rare contrabass flute. Not to mention the other woodwinds at his disposal, including an ocarina and a bird whistle of sorts.
Between those, a smattering of percussive instruments, a xylophone, and different vocal contributions—among them, spoken-word gibberish and dramatic exhalations—André 3000 turned his set into a real-time exploration of the auditory spectrum. The entire show was purely improvisational, an extended (and quite calming) experience in the far reaches of modern jazz.
In some respects, his approach rendered any attempt to “prepare” for his show by listening to his New Blue Sun album somewhat futile. Then again, as André explained during a mid-set chat with the audience, the album itself was no more than a recorded jam session with him and his troupe of musical compatriots. In that sense, his live performance was of a piece with his latest release.
So, too, was every one of the 120 or so performances of New Blue Sun Live that André and company had put on for a world curious about his latest venture before arriving in the hills above L.A.’s Los Feliz neighborhood. As he said, his only intention with the album, and all the performances that have followed, was to “fly free.”
That sense of freedom seems to have entirely saved André 3000’s musical career. During the show, he admitted that he “would’ve been done” with music had he not moved to L.A. after OutKast went on hiatus again in 2014.
In California, far from his home in Atlanta—and all of the expectations therein—he started indulging what became a passion for woodwinds. It began with a breathwork class, during which the instructor performed some flute. That experience led André 3000 to his “flute master,” Guillermo Martinez, who’s made most of the flutes that the former hip-hop superstar has since amassed in his ever-expanding collection. Rather than huddling inside a studio or practice space, André 3000 went about honing his craft at random spots around town, including coffee shops, yoga classes, and the Los Angeles International Airport.
It was at another random spot—an Erewhon supermarket in Venice—that André 3000 met his main link into the L.A. music community, Carlos Nino. As André recalled, the percussionist and producer heard that he was fluting about town, with the ritzy grocery store among his most frequent haunts, and sought him out there.
Now, Carlos is, perhaps, the key to André 3000’s band, having drawn in many of the 13 musicians who performed with them both at the Greek. It’s an eclectic group—comprised of vocalists, guitarists, and keyboardists, as well as practitioners of traditional Mesoamerican styles—for which André 3000 expressed his sincere gratitude. Through his telling, they all played a pivotal part in reviving his musical career, albeit in an entirely unrecognizable form from what brought him to prominence.
Of course, not everyone is going to vibe with the new André 3000 the way they did with his predecessor. After all, experimental, world-blending, improvisational jazz is a far cry from the brand of Atlanta hip-hop that he and Big Boi rode to the top of the charts in the 1990s and 2000s.
On the other hand, that past may well have enabled (if not instigated) André 3000’s idiosyncratic present, along with whatever the future holds for him. For one, reaching the heights of hip-hop—along with all the good, bad, and ugly that comes with it—seems to have driven him to seek out some other, more free-wheeling connection to the sonic cosmos. And, by both establishing his name brand in hip-hop and sparking further intrigue with his decade-long absence from the music scene, he set the stage for fans and casual observers alike to willingly take a look at his avant-garde offering.
To put it another way, had André 3000 attempted to break into the business as the multi-instrumentalist that he is today, he might still be toiling in bars, lounges, and jazz clubs, rather than drawing thousands to iconic venues like the Greek Theatre.
Thanks to both the weight that his alias still carries and the quality of the music that he now creates extemporaneously, André 3000 will bring his band along to many more places of note through the fall. Those include the famed Fox Theater in Oakland, The Salt Shed in Chicago, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and, come late November, a three-night, six-show residency at the renowned Blue Note Tokyo. Find a full list of dates here.
Beyond that, André 3000 hinted that a new record is on the horizon. Whatever else the next chapter holds for him may well only emerge in another moment of spontaneous creation.
Below, check out a gallery of images from André 3000 New Blue Sun Live at the Greek Theatre courtesy of photographer Ariel Goldberg.
