ONJ | Tirolien with Strings Brings Down the House

I will waste no time in saying that Malika Tirolien with the ONJ was among the best concerts I’ve been assigned. It is only February, but I suspect it will go down as one of my favorite shows of the year. And the reason why it boils down to this: Tirolien and company treated us to fantastic performances of solidly crafted songs that were then elevated by great arranging from Jean-Nicolas Trottier.

Tirolien, armed with a rhythm section, three backup singers, a string orchestra, and horns, performed songs from her 2021 album Higher, in addition to a few other selections from a separate project called Gemini Crab. Already, the songs from Higher in their original form are groovy, synth heavy, and high energy. (Due in part, no doubt, to it being co-produced by Michael League of Snarky Puppy). In an interview with Tirolien, our colleague Varun Swarup quite astutely wondered how much more grandiose these songs could get. This would be answered immediately. These arrangements, and in particular their use of strings, equated to a lightness and floating quality in the more gentle moments of the music, but they were equally up to the task of adding a satisfying density and dissonance when required. As concerns the horns, they provided some heft and weight, making the groovier moments even more so. In the words of Tirolien herself, Jean-Nicolas “found a way to elevate the music without losing its core identity.”

Musically, the show and compositions had a bit of everything. Quintuplet grooves, 12/8 shuffle, synth lead solos, a saxophone battle, politically fueled rap, belted high notes, creative tempo changes, a shredding guitar solo, and even some light choreography were all seen before the night was over. And, most importantly, it all worked. It really worked. Going over my notes, I looked to see if there were any fair criticisms that were worth mentioning. In the end, I decided that including any nitpicks would feel a bit forced. And this is because my takeaway from the evening wasn’t “Wow, what a great show; but it would have been nice to clean up elements X, Y, and Z.” Rather, my takeaway was, “Wow, what an exceptional show from all involved.”