Blick Bassy is a true original. Born in Cameroon, he has lived in France for the last decade, developing a fusion style that links west Africa with American blues and jazz, with a dash of free-form experimentation.

For this Kings Place festival show, he began with an a cappella song that immediately demonstrated his exquisite, soulful voice. Then he showed off his finger-picking skills on banjo, with help from a trombonist and an inspired cellist, Clément Petit, as he began to branch out, with his voice now switching from a growl to a ridiculously high falsetto. He played an old, vinyl record by his hero, the Mississippi blues singer Skip James, and sang along, distorting his voice into a furious yell. Finally, he switched back to those glorious soul vocals, now backing himself on a tiny electric guitar. He was presumably amusing himself by sporting pink welding goggles – but with music this intriguing there was no need for gimmicks.

The festival also included London’s first Talking Gigs event, in which an artist is interviewed on stage and the conversation is interspersed with music. It worked well with Ngawang Lodup. A former Tibetan monk who fled “to find artistic freedom”, he mixed ancient songs with contemporary laments for his homeland or praise for the Dalai Lama, accompanying himself on the Tibetan dramnyen lute, electric mandolin and mandola. And his stories of football-obsessed monks or his escape across the Himalayas were equally compelling.

• Blick Bassy is at Yellow Arch Studios, Sheffield, on 13 September. Box office: 0114-273 0800. Then touring the UK until 15 September.