The Sounds of VTech

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. 

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

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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

From his West Coast debut mic appearance on  J. Dilla produced Oh No single to his own works, MC Roc C is has grown as an artist. With the release of his new mixtape “More Than Bars” this musician/rapper, with the help of DJ Romes,  shows us a new side to his work. More geared towards females and critics who have labeled him as “just an MC”, fans will discover that Roc C still remains true to his roots and the streets but with a more mature approach.

More Than Bars, Part 1: Tracklist

1. Intro

2. Let’s Go produced by 3am feat. Prime One

3. One 4 da Money produced by Slopfunkdust feat. Chali2na

4. Every Single Day produced by AOW Click feat. Roscoe Umali, Marlon D.

5. What’s Da Deal produced by Avila Bros

6. Feel Like produced by Blackmilk feat. Chino Xl

7. Gotta Have produced by Jake One feat. Viva

RT Click to download: More Than Bars: Part 1

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This Sunday, March 15th, 2009, VTech with Mochilla are proud to present opening DJ sets by Madlib and DJ Nuts. A can’t miss opportunity for hip hop lovers, Brasilian funk feelers , and down and dirty crater diggers.

MADLIB

Madlib (photo by B+)

From the unlikely beach town of Oxnard, 40 miles north of Los Angeles, the multi-dimensional Madlib quickly rose to prominence as one of the most interesting figures in late-’90s hip-hop. With his childhood buddies in the Lootpack, Madlib quickly made a name for himself as a rapper, producer, and DJ. In particular, his expansive style and deft touch for composition made him one of hip-hop’s most sought-after producers. An enthusiastic crate digger, with a deep reverence for jazz and soul, Madlib branched out into a number of ambitious, engaging solo projects.

Along with DJ Romes and Wild Child, Madlib formed the Lootpack in their hometown of Oxnard. The trio made their debut on tha Alkaholiks’ 21 and Over in 1993. They continued doing work for tha Alkaholiks and other artists before releasing their full-length Soundpieces: Da Antidote six years later. The album earned solid reviews but went largely unnoticed. Madlib did not, however. After hooking up with Los Angeles DJ Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib did a lot of production for Wolf’s Stones Throw label. In 1999 the label released Quasimoto’s astonishing The Unseen LP. Doubling as himself and his alter ego Quasimoto, Madlib handled vocals and production duties on the album, a huge critical success.

Not resting on his laurels, Madlib followed The Unseen a year later with his Yesterday’s New Quintet project. Madlib played all the instruments himself, infusing his exploration of jazz with both style and substance.

While continuing on with a massive release schedule and work load, Madlib completed a remix/reinterpretation project for Blue Note, a collaboration with Jay Dee under the Jaylib alias, a collaboration with MF Doom, produced 1/2 of fellow Lootpack member Wildchild’s solo record and many other remix and producer tasks all in 2003.

Never one to slow down, the next few years brought a myriad of new releases, including Jackson Conti’s Sujinho, a collaboration with Azymuth’s Ivan “Mamao” Conti, who will be playing drums at Verocai’s L.A. debut this Sunday. 

With each year Madlib has continued to expand his abilities beyond the core hip hop that he is known for.

“I could listen to that (Arthur Verocai) album everyday for the rest of my life”  - Madlib

www.myspace.com/madlib

DJ NUTS

DJ Nuts

DJ Nuts is the foremost turntablist living in Brasil today. His skills mixed with the depth of his crates makes him unique in his home country. As a youngster in the late eighties he became fascinated by the burgeoning Sao Paulo hiphop scene. Graduating from the school of “Yo MTV Raps” - he began Djing under the tutelage of Macello 2the Bone (producer of Racionais MCs) in 1991. In 2000 he became the tuntablist champion of Brasil. As a producer he was done albums for Marcello D2 (Sony Music) as well as working with Brasilian music legends Gilberto Gil, Planet Hemp, Joao Donato, Trio Mocoto, O Rappa and Dom Um Romao.

In 2002, DJ Nuts was a tutor at the Red Bull Music Academy in Sao Paulo. He became the main consultant and DJ for Brasilintime: Batucada com Discos- the Mochilla sequel to Keepintime,  on the relationship between Brazilian music of the 1970s and hip hop and funk. 

„Em 1972 falaram que ele estava maluco… sua musica é agora.” - DJ Nuts 

www.myspace.com/djnuts

Sunday, March 15th, 2009
7-11pm / All Ages / $22.50 Limited Presale / $32.50 After
*Presale Tickets Available @www.ticketmaster.com and
The Luckman Box Office +1 323 343 6600
(Please keep in mind that these are assigned seating events - in order to sit together you MUST purchase your tickets together - to view seating chart please go http://luckmanarts.org/seatingchart.php)
*Presale + early arrival is STRONGLY suggested*

Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex
Cal State University Los Angeles
5151 State University Drive. Los Angeles. 90032