BRILLIANT BRENT @ THE NORTH LONDON TAVERN, NW6 7QB
CallMeD/Urvi Waeerkar/MDizz
Sunday 1st June 2025

The opening gig in the Arts Council England and The National Lottery UK supported Brilliant Brent live event series was a case of start as we mean to go on. With diversity at the heart of the project and its ethos, we had three continents represented with London-based artists from Italy, India and USA.

With the exceptionally talented Sharon Katta, also from India, engineering the gig, the sound was pristine from the outset. First to grace the stage was New Jersey rapper MDizz. His engaging rapport with an appreciative audience was instant and he treated them to a wide spectrum of different vibes. From the heartbreak of losing friends and being judged for showing his emotions to talking about relationships or observing the heartbeat of the city streets, there was a quiet intensity about his performance. When he rapped in a kind of spoken word three-part-harmony with himself on the backing track, it sounded fresh and invigorating. At other times, there was a ‘stream of consciousness’ feel. To sound so spontaneous despite the pre-recorded track you are responding to is a measure of his artistry. His style could often be rapid-fire but it was always coherent. Streetwise but sensitive, hard-edged but thoughtful. It was a fine way to open the gig.

MDizz @ Brilliant Brent

After the darker vibe of MDizz, it was the turn of Indian singer-songwriter Urvi Waeerkar. I was pleasantly surprised to find her being accompanied on guitar by the talented Ryan Philips. Ryan had stepped in as a late replacement for Urvi’s usual guitarist but, like the consummate pro that he is, he was note and chord perfect throughout, bringing his lightness of touch and respect for the needs of each song to the party. Urvi’s style is very much in the contemporary singer-songwriter ballpark. She has a beautiful, dexterous voice with a rich tone and a seemingly innate ability to utilise the timbres and dynamics of her range to great effect. She talked with endearing honesty about the pain of relationships and life’s uncertainties. Her young life experience feeds into her story-telling style and her songs mix striking melodies with some sweet chords and arpeggios. It takes talent to be able to deliver this much variety and quality with only the guitar for company. In this respect, late replacement or not, the chemistry between Urvi and Ryan came across strongly throughout. The audience warmed easily to her gentle personality and swooned to her goose-bumping vocals, helped in no small part by Ryan’s expert accompaniment. It had been a lovely set, chilled and yet emotionally charged too.

Urvi Waaerkar & Ryan Philips @ Brilliant Brent

The final act of the afternoon was Italian singer-songwriter and rapper Diana Raschella aka CallMeD. She took to the stage and immediately struck up a conversation with the audience that would characterise her entire set. Diana is not only a talented writer and vocalist. She is an entertainer whose ability to work a crowd and turn the audience into her co-conspirators is a joy to observe. She kicked off with the 2024 single In September, a track featured on the Trust The Doc Radio show at the time of its release. It presented her as a soulful alto range R’n’B singer, projecting an unusual and appealing melody against a slow triplet time backdrop.

Diana is also a story-teller. She used a tale of a message from her best friend who was in Glasgow at the time to get the audience to join in with her ‘Pretty in Glasgow City’ refrain and it was not the only time she coached the crowd to sing with her in key moments. The switching between free flowing rhythmic rap and sultry soulful singing is clever and helps to hold our attention. There is humour too such as in the track London Moon, written when she was imagining how life would be in London. She ends, perhaps surprisingly but smartly, with a classy, subtly jazz-tinged Soul ballad so we are left with her fine voice hanging in the air.

CallMeD @ Brilliant Brent

Having already given these thank yous out when I was compering at the gig, I should repeat my thanks to Sharon Katta, who took so much pressure off my shoulders with his calm management of the room and the sound; Alina Gray who stood in on door and ticket management for Sherry (while the latter is still in India); Joseph Hassan-McCarron, manager of MDizz and an energetic promoter of the event and the audience for coming out on a Sunday afternoon in Kilburn to support grassroots music. The next one is on Sunday 3rd August and Belgian-British female Indie band MI:EL are playing alongside two others to be confirmed. Tickets will be on sale soon. In the meantime, well done to all today’s artists.