News: Happy Bday, J Dilla!

February 7th, 2010 by Lola
Birth name James Dewitt Yancey
Also known as Jay Dee, J Dilla, Dilla Dawg
Born February 7, 1974

jay dee

“… HOLD TIGHT! don’t ever give up in the fight,
GRACE! can only come into the sight,
SOUL POWER! it ignites like the sun…”

(Slum Village, Fantastic Vol.2, 2000)

As we approach the date of one of hip-hop’s greatest losses, updated merchandise, fundraisers and J Dilla anniversary events are spilling out from all corners of the globe. This is not only to commemorate someone who is often referred to as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time but also to raise awareness of lupus, the fatal disease that unfortunately claimed his life on 10th Feb 2006 (3 days after his 32nd birthday).

“Systemic lupus erythematosus SLE or lupus, is a chronic autoimmune connective tissue disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body’s cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage.

SLE most often harms the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and nervous system. The course of the disease is unpredictable, with periods of illness (called flares) alternating with remissions. The disease occurs nine times more often in women than in men, especially between the ages of 15 and 50, and is more common in those of non-European descent.”

(www.wikipedia.org)

Find out more about lupus and what you can do to make a difference on J Dilla Project’s MySpace which has a variety of links and info.

jdilla

In saying all this, there is still a genius of a producer who’s work requires celebration and his legacy, continuation. Here are three dope suggestions as to how to we can all participate in making it happen:

1. The J Dilla Foundation. After being shut down for some years, the J Dilla Foundation was relaunched this year by Ma Dukes aka Maureen Yancey. Their mission is to encourage ‘progressive music education’ in schools and to ’support music enthusiasts with the tools they require to become successful within the entertainment industry.’

2. The Doctor’s Orders Presents J-Dilla Changed My Life. This is tonight at Kings Cross’ Scala. Contributing a minimum of £5 at the door will go to both the J Dilla Foundation and Lupus UK. This event will be pretty rammed but you can expect all the Dilla classics and extras. Massive vibe with the most Jay Dee die-hard, party harders from all over the UK. If you would like to make further donations, there will be all kinds of merchandise being sold there too.

3. There have been numerous Jay Dee re-workings and remixes building up to his anniversary, however the best contribution I’ve heard so far is from the stuff that the Roots have put together. It must be pretty hard attempting to re-work the ultimately skillful re-worker; however refreshingly for us, they took on some of his rarer beats. Obviously as very close friends of the artist (especially ?uestlove), their genuine and personal renditions are tasteful and beyond magnificent. Click here to listen. (A personal favourite is ‘Make em NV‘)

Fan-tas-tic!

J Dilla MySpace

Event: Jay Electronica

February 5th, 2010 by Lola

Just like London buses, when there are no decent gigs for a while, we’ve come to expect that tons of them will come at once and all together. This seems to be the case for the first quarter of 2010 as yet another* super booking arrives via Mean Fiddler and The Outfit Agency who present to us, Jay Electronica at the Jazz Cafe.

Gracing our shores for the very first time, this is set to be a roadblock.

This New Orleans born rapper has trailblazed his way into a scene that has been somewhat lacking to say the least. Not only did his first percussionless joint, Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) bring a fresh perspective to hip-hop’s repetitive production templates (that every rapper seems to have exhausted to the core), Jay’s lyrical style has also been validated by many veterans of the game such as Rakim, NaS and Mos Def. To be honest, we should have known that any rapper affiliated with Miss Badu would be no less than dope.

Jay will be filling the Jazz cafe for two days, with the first (17th Feb 2010) being hosted by Benji B of 1Xtra/Deviaion fame and the second (18th) by 1Xtra and Def Jam UK’s DJ Semtex.

I’m sure that Jay’s performances will take no prisoners, so be ready to feel the force. POW!

Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, London, NW1 7PG
Dates: Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th February 2010
Doors: 7pm
Price: £20adv. Tickets are guaranteed to fly, so jump on it.

Jay Electronica’s Myspace.

Jay Electronica’s Twitter.

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* See previous posting for Robert Glasper’s UK tour dates. On the 13th of Feb, Dam Funk will also be performing at Brixton’s Plan B… Event details here.

Event: Glasper in LDN

February 5th, 2010 by Lola

I do realise that I’ve been going on about this dude for a minute, so I shall keep this post short and sweet. The Robert Glasper Trio is in town.

There is no need for me to breakdown why this jazz pianist, double-bass and drum outfit is worth catching; if your into good music, this should definitely be good enough to lure you out of hibernation.

I’ll cut to the chase. Firstly. you can catch them tomorrow (6th Feb 2010) amongst a whole host of other super artists at Gilles Peterson’s annual Worldwide Awards at the Garage… And secondly if you prefer Glasper and his crew 100% undiluted, then you can catch them at Ronnie Scott’s next Monday and Tuesday (8th and 9th). See below for more details.

Look out for the drummer, Chris “Daddy” Dave. This guy is sublime.

See you there…

Click here for details of Robert Glasper at Worldwide Awards.

Click here for details of Glasper at Ronnie Scott’s.

Robert Glasper Myspace.

Dig: Etienne Jaumet

February 1st, 2010 by Lola

Whilst passing through the Big Chill House for Slipped Disco’s UFO party last Friday, I was lucky enough to experience one of the most psychedelic electronic amalgamation of sounds I’ve heard in a while, delivered in the form of a live set by a French artist/producer, Etienne Jaumet.

Apparently, before his solo release, he was one part of a duo known as Zombie Zombie. To be honest, up until this moment, I was completely unfamiliar with Etienne’s work (although in my defense, this was his UK debut). What I can say however, is that listening to him live brought back memories of early 80’s sci-fi at its most inventive.

The set seemed to pay homage to techno in its original depiction, brought to mind by the famously reported dialogue between Stuart Cosgrove and Derrick May, who once stated that techno is “… like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company.” (Cosgrove, 1988)

As Etienne engaged in tweaking knobs and forging kitsch noises out of vintage machinery, his geeky mannerisms were a breath of fresh air in a scene that is increasingly becoming trivialised by trendy iPod DJs. Another thing that was very evident from watching his performance, was his undeniable skill in the manipulation of various synthesizers. Almost instantly we were transported into another realm of deep space exploration through his masterful deployment of cosmic sound effects, indigenous tribal drum patterns, live instrumentation and machine music.

Not always easy on the ear, plenty of experimentation and awkward noise forced us as listeners to work a little harder in order to reap the harvest of his creativity. It was well worth it.

From the set, Monsieur Jaumet definitely inspired me to dig deeper into his work. The results are as follows:

On Versatile Records, he released his first solo album last year, called Night Music bearing five lengthy tracks. Many label the album a techno effort, however like most semi-decent artists, pigeon-holing Night Music into a single genre just doesn’t do it any justice. My take is this, Night Music would be the creative output of techno, electro, cosmic jazz, deep space funk, disco, krautrock, psychedelic and prog rock forming a sonic conglomerate… Or maybe more simply put, what the Dr. Who soundtrack should be. I’m not going to break down each track but as a whole, the vibe of the album is unsettling, and deliberately so. The constant drone of sharp keys and minor chords may not sit well with everyone but if you are comfortable with this, you will surely get a sufficient dosage of instant vintage. Etienne goes all out on effects, from didgeridoos to birds chirping to bleeps and blips, his peculiar production style packages the aesthetic of a Pac-Man arcade into a highly intellectual yet danceable album.

Not only are electronic dimensions explored, real instruments such as the saxophones and other horns are ever-present in a style reminiscent to early Laurent Garnier tracks. We are truly taken back to the future in Night Music and its understandable why Carl Craig would jump on such a talent.

It is also clear that the same passion and effort Etienne put into creating Night Music, goes into his live performances, thus I thoroughly recommend catching him when he’s next on British soil.

Your modern day space odyssey.

Etienne Jaumet Myspace.

Event: Afrobeat Vibration

January 27th, 2010 by Lola

Dele Sosimi is back for the first time in 2010 with his Afrobeat Orchestra and the phenomenal DJ, Koichi Sakai.

For those of you that have no idea about the significance of this statement, I urge you to come and experience this super-party for yourself… A mixture of Fela’s classics and Dele’s own material fuels this jamming session till the wee hours of dawn.

Here’s what they have to say for themselves:

“All those who had been eagerly awaiting for this Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 original keyboard player Dele Sosimi’s dedication of Afrobeat have the opportunity to feel the heat once again. He will bring authentic Kalakuta style live Afrobeat performance with the finest musicians and dancers in London. DJ Koichi Sakai will drop heavy weight Afrobeat, Afro Funk and Tropical sounds ’strictly vinyl only’ on the decks.”

Click here to watch Dele in Off The Meters’ Afrobeat Vibration promotional video or check out this mini-interview (below) that I managed to get with Dele sharing a piece of his mind:

1.Which afrobeat tracks would you say are essential for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the genre?

Lady, Shakara, Zombie, Sorrow Tears and Blood, Water No Get Enemy, Teacher, Power Show, Beast Of No Nation, E No Possible and Expensive Shit are all Fela Kuti classic favourites of mine. Better still, Essential Afrobeat which is a 3 Cd Afrobeat compilation selected by me and released by Family Recordings will take you on a real ear opening journey.

2. What do you think of the afrobeat scene in UK by comparison to Nigeria?

It is certainly more dynamic, developed and diverse here in the UK. There is an ever-increasing variety of artists representing afrobeat in their own way such as Tony Allen, Bukky Leo, Funso Ogunndipe, Fanga London Afrobeat Collective, Afrobeat Crusaders and Hot Club Afrobeat Orchestra to name a few. However in Nigeria, there only seems to be Femi and Seun Kuti when there should be much more. I would love to see more happening in Nigeria although this would require a tremendous shift in the cultural ideology of the nation.

3. What is your vision for afrobeat? How do you see afrobeat evolving?

Afrobeat itself is a fusion of different genres. I believe that music should always evolve and collaborate with other genres such as funk, hip-hop, jazz and so on. Through projects such as ‘Red Hot & Riot‘ or ‘FELA!‘ the musical, afrobeat has been able to reach wider audiences and continues to live on. Now more artists from other genres are wanting to co-write, produce, compose and release new material which is one of the most basic tools required for the development and evolution of genres. In saying this, I hope to see for example, ‘Dele Sosimi featuring Snoop Dogg‘, ‘… Jay-Z‘ or fingers crossed ‘… Esperanza Spalding!’

4. Share some words about what Afrobeat Vibration means to you.

Afrobeat Vibration is a deep movement that will infect you, make you reflect and affect you. Once you get a feel of it, you will not be able to stay away from us. Through this party, I have been able to keep the afrobeat fire burning and build a large family of musicians and listeners who all share in the same passion.

Thanks Dele for shedding some light on the issue and we certainly look forward to dancing till we’ve at least filled a few buckets of sweat*.

Afrobeat no go die!

Saturday 30th January at The NEW Empowering Church
1a Westgate Street (off Mare Street), London E8 3RL
Nearest station: London Fields
Bus: 26, 48, 55, 106, 236, 254, 388, D6, N26, N55, N253

Entry: £10/£8 advance booking. *An added (FREE) bonus to the night is the ‘full Nigerian’ breakfast in the morning.

Doors: 9pm     DJ starts: 10pm     Live show: 12am onwards.
Please get there early to avoid the queue on the door.

Dele Sosimi’s current album Identity is available at Amazon, iTunes and many other outlets. Check his MySpace for more details.

NEWS: Alternative Soul

January 22nd, 2010 by Lola

Imagine Led Zeppelin and Radiohead tinged with a high dosage of blues and soul… Well for those that don’t remember, this is what Questlove, Robert Glasper and a crew of other heavy-duty bandsmen offered when they performed as Bilal and The Witness Protection Program at Okayplayer’s Holiday Celebration a few years back.

Finally Questlove has posted up the entire set on his SwiftFM page for all to indulge in. This all seems very timely as alongside Glasper, Bilal has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance and there’s word that he will also finally be releasing his sophomore effort sometime early this year.

With Mayer Hawthorne and soon to come Bilal, Sade and Gil Scott-Heron, I wonder if 2010 will be the year that represents the revival of soul music.

Thanx to Questlove for making the entire set available… Baby Since I’ve Been Loving You/Everything In It’s Right Place/Sometimes (Live). Click here to check it out.

Catch Billboard’s in-depth interview with Bilal.

Bilal’s Twitter page.

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