DOMi & JD Beck at Songbyrd Music House in DC (Photo ©2022 Mauricio Castro)

“You like my toilet?” That’s Domitille Degalle, also known as DOMi, French keyboard virtuoso and Berklee College of Music graduate. She’s one of the most adept keyboard players of her generation, hyped by many to be the next big thing, and…she’s sitting atop a toilet on stage.

This is how Domi and JD Beck approach jazz: with serious intent, but a wry, weird sense of humor. (Case in point: a cover of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” reworked and titled “Giant Nuts.”) Degalle met JD Beck in 2018 at NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants’ annual trade show, through a mutual friend (the drummer of Snarky Puppy). Fast forward to today, and they’re now signed to Anderson .Paak’s label APESHIT INC., the label’s first signees. Their debut album NOT TiGHT comes with heavy hitter features, like Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and even jazz living legend Herbie Hancock. And as for their very first tour together, every night sold out almost instantly. The hype is real, as is their love of jazz and fart jokes.

Fans got to see DOMi and JD Beck play just five feet away from one another, facing each other on the edge of the stage while surrounded by floral arrangements. It made an intimate show feel even more so, given how much space they could have used around them. Among their own songs, they gave a tribute to Madvillany, the MF DOOM / Madlib collaboration, with a medley of “Figaro,” “All Caps,” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Raid,” “Meat Grinder,” and “Accordion.” DOMi professed that her voice was shot that night, so they kept the vocals to a minimum that night, performing largely instrumentals of all their songs, like the Mac DeMarco-featured “TWO SHRiMPS.” But really, the real draw is seeing the technical marvel that each of them brings to their stage. DOMi’s fingers fluttered across her keyboard as she tore into wild combinations of notes, major-third modulations, and a lot more. Beck is all business when in song mode, showing his adept ability to weave in and out of established time signatures and patterns. And together, they make a compelling new tour de force that is still only getting started.

DOMi and JD Beck’s debut album NOT TiGHT is out now through APESHIT INC.