Blasting Through the Barriers: DoomCannon and SXSW’s Jazz re:freshed Outernational

The history of jazz presents a melding of different cultural cues which form the core of the music itself. It is no coincidence that the music originated in New Orleans, a city with a unique blending of influences from the Caribbean, Europe, and the African diaspora. Over the ensuing decades, artists have woven sounds from around the globe into the loose improvisation-knit fabric of the music to create new tapestries. At the same time, while jazz was born in America, its textural inclusiveness has formed a diverse music that transcends borders. In fact, one of the hottest jazz scenes of the early 2020s can be found in the capital of the nation from which America once declared its independence. Appropriately, artists on the London jazz scene have reached prominence primarily due to their openness and willingness to adopt ideas from other music – including hip hop, neo-soul, broken beat, or African and Caribbean music – and finding ways to connect them into a newly formed cohesive whole. Though, in its own words, “small and relentlessly determined”, Jazz re:freshed has been at the crux of these most recent developments. 

Now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, Jazz re:freshed has become a breeding ground for talent who later become world renowned for their broad creative perspectives and artistic prowess. Some of the organization’s better-known alums include Shabaka Hutchings, SEED Ensemble, and Nubya Garcia. Each year, one of Jazz re:freshed’s most significant offerings has been a night at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival dubbed its Outernational showcase. The event provides tastemakers the opportunity to hear musicians who have developed through the organization, often in their first performance in the States. One such artist booked for the 2023 Outernational is the composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Dominic Canning, better known as DoomCannon. 

It is hard to determine the source of Canning’s stage name. Even the artist himself is unsure. As Canning noted in a zoom call regarding the name’s origins, “[They] are kind of … unknown. I remember I was in a radio session, and somebody said, Dom or Dom Cannon. It became Doom Cannon, and I owned it. I don’t quite know exactly who came up with the name or where it originates. Maybe the ancestors gave it to me.”  

The exact circumstances of its birth aside, the nickname is fitting for Canning’s music as it blasts down stylistic barriers and defies conventions in even the most unconventional forms. His debut record, Renaissance (Brownswood, 2021) is free in its conception but avoids becoming unapproachable to even the most novice listener. The music retains a certain affability not by weakening its core but by adding to it. And, again, this is in line with the more holistic mindset London practitioners have adopted for improvised music.

As Canning states, “It wasn’t my intention to make free music more approachable by pulling in other things, but growing up, I used to listen to [many] different styles of music, and they just naturally came into the music. The key to making many things accessible is putting in [ideas from] modern genres that are, nowadays, popular. I think that’s why UK jazz has taken off. It’s so approachable. You don’t even realize you’re listening to someone blow altered licks over like a Latin beat. It’s so digestible. I think some people sort of get scared about the word free jazz, but you don’t have to be some elite to understand it. I think the way to make it approachable is not to dumb it down but to put in a little R&B or trap and connect with people that way.” Like most artists emerging from the London jazz scene, these additional ideas add new colors, not merely mimicking the work of others. As Canning notes, “I think maybe [those from the London scene are] capitalizing on our cultures and our experiences instead of trying to replicate something else, whether straight ahead or the J Dilla thing. [We] just be ourselves.”

Just as his music’s free jazz heart is not strained by the introduction of new elements, Canning’s message is also not undermined by such an addition. Although primarily an instrumental release featuring Canning’s skills on keyboards, Renaissance retains an unequivocal message on the importance of striving for racial justice. The closer, “Black Liberation,” for instance, features a short speech about a global struggle for Black rights and social presence. Renaissance’s two forthcoming follow-up works are even more universal in appeal. As Canning comments, “I am aiming for a trilogy. It’s not just focusing on racial issues but other human issues, like mental health struggles and things I guess everyday people can understand.”

That intersection between expansive creative scope and universality of appeal stands at the crux of Jazz re:freshed and its success as an artistic breeding ground. The other artists scheduled for this year’s Outernational – ensembles Steam Down and the Balimaya Project, singer-songwriter Yazmin Lacey, and saxophonists Camilla George and Marcus Joseph – represent this aesthetic as well. While none are yet “big names” in the sense of someone like Hutchings or Garcia, it may just be a matter of time. They certainly have the same support from Jazz re:freshed as those other artists. “To be honest, I’d be nowhere without Jazz re:freshed,” Canning remarked candidly. “They championed and put me on since I was young. They gave us our first live record deal. And now, I’ve been called upon to help them celebrate their 20th birthday on the 15th. It has a real family vibe.”

Read more about DoomCannon on his Facebook page.

The 2023 edition of Jazz re:freshed’s Outernational will take place on Wednesday March 15, from 8pm to 2 AM CST at Sellers Underground. More information about Jazz re:freshed can be found here.