Long one of the town’s best bands, Afropysch outfit Kalu & the Electric Joint – featuring butter-smooth vocalist Kalu James and bandleader Jonathan “JT” Holt – blends Afrobeat polyrhythms with psych-soul and blues rock fusions. Latest album Garden of Eden, made in fits and starts throughout the pandemic, is punctuated by its bottom-heavy, vibe-forward title single. Opener Redbud is a white-hot ray of indie-pop sunshine that burst through with 2023’s kaleidoscopic, genre-bending debut EP, Long Night. – Kahron Spearman
