The Sounds of VTech

If you’re in LA and have no plans this evening, make your way out to Echo Park  to the EchoPlex and celebrate the life and music of James “J Dilla” Yancey. Tonight is not only the fourth anniversary of his passing, but also Act 2 of Songs in the Key of “D.”

J.Rocc, Rhettmatic, Mr. Choc and more will be hosting this event, remembering their good friend. Good music, positive energy and special appearances by Slum Village as well as other special guests will provide you with an evening to remember.

Dilla, we miss you , we love you, and we’ll be there tonight showing you just how much. So, let’s all go down to Nightlife and Turn It UP for Dilla.

Today is the fourth anniversary of Dilla’s untimely passing. People are celebrating his life all month long. At Mochilla, we have spent the past year working on A Suite for Ma Dukes. Until now we have held our cards close to our chest releasing videos and entirely instrumental pieces. But today in homage to the man responsible for all this we are releasing, just to you, the first vocal performance from SFMD.

Dwele sang Angel that night without rehearsal. It is a classic. Miguel’s arrangement is super heavy and Bob Power made it magic.   -B+

Turn it up.

Track: Angel Feat. Dwele
Album: Timeless: Suite For Ma Dukes
Artist: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

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The Sounds of VTech / Angel Feat. Dwele

This Friday, February 12th, 2010, VTech and Beat Junkie Sound presents NIGHTLIFE: “Songs in the Key of D - Act 2.” Resident DJs, the Beat Junkies: J.Rocc, Rhettmatic, Mr. Choc, and Curse, remember the passing of their dear friend and colleague James “J.Dilla” Yancey, alongside very special guests, Slum Village and more.

Be there as fans, friends, and more come to celebrate the life that was J.Dilla’s. The music, the memories, the joy and laughter will be present. Let’s commemorate the anniversary of his passing with positive energy, dancing and good times. Thank you J. Dilla.

21+ and over. Doors open at 10pm. $5 before 11pm and $10 after.

They’ll be accepting $5 donations for Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey. Early arrival is suggested.

The Echoplex

1154 Glendale Blvd. LA, CA 90026

This is a can’t miss for music lovers and Dilla fans….

In what is sure to be one of the year’s most inspiring music/art happenings, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony (WCFSO) on February 6th, 2010 at the Great Hall in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa will celebrate Black History Month and African-American achievement in orchestral music. Featuring the work of William Grant Still, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and  J Dilla, the evening will combine the art of Cedar Valley artist Gary Kelley and the music of these legends in a unique multimedia presentation.

This event will stretch audience expectations of the typical orchestral concert by featuring arrangements of hip-hop artist J Dilla’s music. Grammy nominated record producer J Dilla (James Yancey) was one of the music industry’s most influential hip-hop artists. He emerged from the mid-1990’s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit and worked for big-name acts like De La Soul, Busta Rhymes and Common. His rise as a solo artist in the early 2000’s was cut short when he died in 2006, at age 32. The WCFSO will perform selections from Suite for Ma Dukes, arrangements of J Dilla’s music created by composer/arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and featured last year in Los Angeles as part of the Mochilla/VTech Timeless Concert Series that paid tribute to J Dilla and his mother, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey.

Program for the evening:

William Grant Still: Symphony no. 1, ‘Afro-American’

James Yancey (J Dilla), arr. Miguel Atwood Ferguson: selections from Suite for Ma Dukes

Edward ‘Duke’ Ellington: The Three Black Kings

George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Concert tickets start at $19 for adults and $9 for students.

For tickets, click here or call 319-273-4TIX or 1-877-549-SHOW or visit www.wcfsymphony.org.

The Timeless DVD Box Set

Timeless describes moments outside of time— moments that exist so deep inside history that they break through that finite grid. Timeless: The Composer/Arranger Series is an homage to the composer-arrangers that have influenced hip-hop in the most literal and profound ways.

The creative center of popular music today is the beatmaker-producer. Whether it is Timbaland, Dilla, Dre, or Madlib, these musicians have an uncanny sense for voicings, a penchant for unusual sounds and catchy rhythms and a magical ability to manufacture a good performance. Today’s beatmakers are the direct descendants of yesterday’s composer-arrangers. Their processes—whether it be writing a memorable line for background singers or finding the appropriate moment for a baritone harmonica — mirror those of today’s musicians. The composer-arranger creates music through the frame of the bigger picture, often more concerned with how things sound together than individually. Similarly today’s beatmakers produce music on a grand scale, but through automation and sampling.

Timeless brings these two seemingly unlike worlds together. The series honors the musical legacies of some of the greatest composer-arrangers ever.  Timeless celebrates the work of the composer-arranger in the context it should be seen—with full orchestras.

From Mulatu Astatke to J. Dilla to Arthur Verocai, the Timeless Concert Series touched upon the works of three musical giants. Mochilla is proud to announce the March 30th, 2010 release date of the Timeless Concert Series, a 3 DVD box set with a special downloadable audio portion. The box set will be an extremely limited and numbered edition of 4,000, which will include full liner notes, a free poster exclusive only to the box set, extra features, songs, and slideshows of images used in the presentation. To mark the launch of the DVD, there will be a series of events scheduled around its release, including a SXSW screening. Stay tuned here to The Sounds of VTech for more.

Mulatu Astatke:

Headlining the first concert in the Timeless series was the beginning of a big year for Mulatu Astatke. His recent collaboration with the Heliocentrics has made it on many people’s “Best of List,” for 2009. The anthology of his work, New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975, the first comprehensive collection of his work was a big success for Strut Records. On February 1^st, he blessed the Luckman Auditorium with an amazing show. He shared the stage with Los Angeles jazz scene veterans Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence, and Phil Ranelin. The performance is beautiful, showcasing many classics as well as some new material. The music was mixed by Los Angeles engineer Benjamin Tierney and UK producer/musician, Will “Quantic” Holland.

Mulatu is currently touring Europe with the Heliocentrics and is still talking about the Timeless concert. 

 Suite For Ma Dukes:

Timeless II celebrated the music of hip-hop producer, James “J. Dilla” Yancey. Composed and arranged for a 60-piece orchestra by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, the concert featured special guests Bilal, Dwele, Posdnuos (De La Soul), Talib Kweli, and more. This premiere performance is still buzzing in the minds of many, unable to shake the magic of that evening.

The music was mixed and mastered by legendary Grammy award-winning producer/mixer Bob Power. Power is the man behind hundreds of pop and jazz recordings. He’s worked with such artists as Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, India.Arie, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and even more significantly, with Dilla.  Bob rarely works on smaller independent projects like this, but was so impressed with Miguel’s music that he blessed this collaboration with an epic mix.

We are premiering “Take Notice” today with Bob’s mix.

In related news, on February 6^th, 2010, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony will be perform four of Miguel’s arrangements of Dilla in a tribute to great American composers. Dilla will be honored right along side George Gershwin, William Grant Still, and Duke Ellington. Only Timeless could have made this happen. Deepest congratulations to Miguel and Dilla.

 Arthur Verocai:

Timeless III saw Arthur Verocai make his very first trip to Los Angeles to perform his seminal 1972 record for a capacity audience at the Luckman. The performance brought the crowd to a stand still. According to Verocai, “I never played the record, alive or dead!” and hid the record from his family because “of his disappointment at its failure during the 70s.” His utter delight at the opportunity to play this music in its complete form can be seen in the DVD. He has subsequently been offered an opportunity to do the concert again in London. Stay tuned. 

The music was mixed by Verocai himself in Rio de Janeiro. He was so excited with the final result that he held a private screening of the concert at the beginning of December and invited the Carioca music community.

Three different shows with three different producers/arrangers and three different styles of extraordinary music presented. For those who attended, the Timeless Series was that of magic, love, and music that penetrated the soul. With the box set, those who weren’t able to attend will now understand what everyone has been talking about. And for those who have, a chance to relive music history all over again. 

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The Sounds of VTech / Suite For Ma Dukes: Take Notice

Right Click To Download: Take Notice (Bob Power mix)

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