Words: Fin Harrison / Images: Elizabeth Lenthall

It’s Wednesday the 4th of June, and as the interior of Camden’s famous Jazz Cafe begins to fill up, the excitement in the room is paired with a sense of intrigue. A week on from the release of his otherworldly-sounding new LP, ‘Confines’, experimental rapper, singer and jazz trumpeter Pan Amsterdam (Leron Thomas) is finally bringing his project to the ears of Londoners.

The 46-year-old New Yorker has been releasing music consistently since the early 2000s, and has operated under the pseudonym Pan Amsterdam since 2018. Despite having four albums to his name, audiences have only
experienced his music at a small handful of one-off shows. After studying jazz and contemporary music in his home city, Thomas has gone on to share the stage with some of the industry’s greats, including Roy Hargrove, Charles Tolliver and Billy Harper. He has also toured and recorded with Bilal, Lauryn Hill and, most recently, Iggy Pop, whose live band he currently serves as musical director for. While undoubtedly a seasoned live performer, Pan Am gigs have remained something of a rarity… until now.

The past month has been one of the busiest in Thomas’s career so far. Alongside the album release, he has also been playing some massive shows around the world with Iggy, including an electrifying stop at Alexandra Palace on the 28th of May. Amidst these dates, he has also brought Pan Amsterdam on the road here in the UK for the very first
time. Speaking to CLASH last November, he stated that his goal for the coming year was to “be more live”, further stating that he didn’t “wanna be like Enya, somebody that nobody ever sees perform.”

In keeping with this promise, but never one for convention, he has since made his on-stage debut in places like Nantwich, Wrexham and Margate. Tonight, in the most fitting venue imaginable, he plays his biggest headline show to date, and almost nobody in attendance has any clue what to expect. The stage is warmed up by the dreamy melodies of Bristol-based underground psych-soul collective Cousin Kula, who confidently succeed in limbering up a rapidly growing crowd. This is followed by a half-hour set from DJ Grizzle, who spins a soulful array of old-school hip hop classics from his vinyl collection, keeping everyone in motion as he does so.

When the moment finally arrives, Thomas boldly strides onto the stage with a spring in his step and an infectious grin on his face. Dressed in all black and trumpet in hand, he immediately launches into ‘Confines’—the title track from his new record. With Grizzle still backing him up on the decks, Thomas dances gleefully between the two microphones at
his disposal—one for vocals, the other for his horn.

He steadily grows into the performance, stunning the audience time and again with his hypnotic trumpet solos, and keeping them entertained as he cracks jokes between numbers. The experience reaches a new height when he plays his two biggest hits back to back. Boom-bap banger ‘Rigatoni’ is cooked up and served to perfection, followed by fan
favourite ‘Carrot Cake’ for dessert.

Another single from the new album, ‘Evening Drive’, is played twice through. The first time round, he performs the track as it appears on the recording, effortlessly ensuring that each subconsciously crafted lyric cuts through amid the song’s groovy, cinematic beat. The second time, however, he lets his instrument do the talking. Thomas seamlessly
gravitates towards the second microphone and graces the crowd with two and a half minutes of cool, uninterrupted improvisation. “Y’all wanna hear me sing?” He then asks the crowd, before stepping into ‘NYC Town’, a melancholic and highly personal ode to life inside the Big Apple.

He concludes with ‘Plus One’, the first track he ever released as Pan Am, which he revisits on ‘Confines’ with an added vocal feature from Iggy Pop himself. After filling the stage with charisma and energy, and keeping everyone on their toes as he glides between genres, styles and rhythms, he walks off stage triumphantly. Rapturous applause, whooping and cheering are heard from every corner of the room, as Thomas leaves everyone standing beneath the venue’s giant disco ball elated and hungry for more.

‘Confines’ is out now via Heavenly Recordings.