The Sounds of VTech

Tag: Timeless Concert Series

Music Does Exist in Los Angeles

by Joy on Nov.08, 2009, under Events, Mochilla, Photo, Timeless, VTech

On Friday, the crowds were out in droves with open hearts and open minds to experience a night of amazing music. And what a line-up VTech and Mochilla had in store for that evening!! Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, the young musical genius behind “Suite For Ma Dukes” and his ensemble, DJs Madlib, B+, and Coleman, and last but not least, the headliners, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

One by one as each act took the stage, the crowd cheered them on with equal enthusiasm. From Madlib’s spacey set inspired by Sun Ra which featured a lot of new music to Miguel and his amazing group of musicians, the nods of approval from the audience could be seen by everywhere.  And before we knew it, it was time for the musical brothers from Chicago to take the stage. With their infectious upbeat hip-hop influenced sound, the HBE came out of swinging, and the crowd was enthralled. Among the scores of admirers who were there to bear witness to it all were musicians Flea, the bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phil Ranelin, American jazz and experimental trombonist, MF Doom, MED, and more. And though the HBE performed an amazing live set, living up to their well-deserved hype,  one moment stood out from the rest. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson returned to the stage to perform “Scrabble,” a song in tribute to Dilla, with the HBE, and the energy in the Echoplex was electric.

It is truly incredible to think that in one evening you had kids cheering for a viola solo, a DJ set and a brass ensemble all in same setting. It’s moments like that fill me utter and complete joy that real music is still being created, performed, supported, and most of all, appreciated by fans new and old.

Thank you Los Angeles, Mochilla, Miguel, Madlib, B+, Coleman, the HBE, and all the fans who come out to our events. We couldn’t have done it without you.

*photos by Mike Park


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NPR’s Look Back at Arthur Verocai’s Performance at Timeless

by Joy on Aug.10, 2009, under Audio, Concerts & Tours, Mochilla, Timeless

 

NPR brings us a look back at Arthur Verocai’s ground-breaking performance earlier this year at the Luckman Theater as a part of the Mochilla/VTech TIMELESS concert series. Below is the write up of the event of Arthur Verocai’s first ever live performance in Los Angeles which was enjoyed by many and forgotten by none.

 

Arthur Verocai:

Return Of A Brazilian Secret

Arthur Verocai in 1972Arthur Verocai in 1972.

August 10, 2009 - I was standing backstage at Cal State’s Luckman Theater when I saw him: tall and thin, dark and intense, his lanky frame barely filling what was supposed to be a fitted suit. Though he was missing the mane of black hair he wore on the cover of his self-titled 1972 album, he was unmistakably composer, arranger and producer Arthur Verocai. Largely unknown in his home country of Brazil, Verocai is worshiped by the likes of TV on the Radio, Cut Chemist, DOOM and Madlib — all of whom were in attendance at this historic event, in which Verocai led a 30-piece orchestra in the first and only performance of his legendary album.

The evening didn’t disappoint. Watching him on stage was transfixing. He didn’t have to do much; he’d done all the hard work at age 25, when he wrote the original charts that this orchestra, under his watchful eye, played to the note. You got the feeling that he recognized just how important this concert was — not just for himself, but also for the lucky audience of 1,200.

The next day, as I fielded emails, text messages and IMs from those who were there, Cut Chemist put it best: “That was one of the best shows L.A. has ever seen.” I felt the need to review my collection for some high points of Verocai’s varied career — which stretched from the heady psychedelia of O Terco (whose first album he arranged) to the gorgeous pop of the little-known duo Ana Maria e Mauricio.

For the playlist assembled by Egon for this article click: VEROCAI

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Don’t Miss the Premiere of Tradition in Transition: A Postcard From Cali this Saturday

by Joy on Jul.02, 2009, under Mochilla, Photo, Video

As the last burger sizzles on the grill and the sun sets beyond the horizon, do you really want to sit and stare at fireworks all night long? Instead, make the most of the 4th and head over to the Independent Theater in Downtown LA for  the American Premiere of Mochilla’s newest film.

From the creative minds behind Keepintime, Brasilintime: Batucada com Discos, and the Timeless series, MOCHILLA in conjuction with VTech are proud to bring you their newest documentary, Tradition in Transition: A Postcard From Cali.


Come join us for the American Premiere of the forthcoming MOCHILLA/Sonido del Valle production. Shot in Cali and Buenaventura in Colombia, the film is based around the music of Quantic (Will Holland) and his Combo Barbaro. Their forthcoming album, Tradition in Transition (Tru Thoughts Records) feature the talents of Will Holland, Alfredito Linares, Nidia Gongora, Freddy Colorado, Arthur Verocai, Joao Comanche Gomes and Malcolm Catto.

Music Producer Will Holland aka Quantic

Music Producer Will Holland aka Quantic

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 @ 9pm

DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT THEATER

251 S MAIN ST LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

Q & A with Quantic and Mochilla After Screening

$5 Tickets Available at The Independent Box Office

Afterwards…

 

3RD ANNUAL PEACE PROJECT AFTERPARTY

An afterparty to launch the new album by Quantic and his

Combo Barbaro and the American Premiere of the new film by Mochilla.

Peace Portraits by Azul 213*

Photo Exhibition by: B+ and Eric Coleman

LIVE Performance by Buyepongo!

DJs QUANTIC / COLEMAN / B+ / JEREMY SOLE 

11pm | $5 at door | Cash Only

Entry is Free with ticket stub from Independent @EVFA 542 S. Alameda St LA, CA 90013

 

 

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MF Doom/Metal Fingers’ Passion Flower for Arthur Verocai’s Seriado

by Joy on Mar.10, 2009, under Audio, Concerts & Tours, Timeless, Video

MF DOOM

MF Doom (photo by B+)

MF Doom (photo by B+)

Daniel Dumile, better known as MF DOOM (DOOM), is a British born American hip hop artist. Born in London, England, he moved with his family to New York and raised in Long Island. Under one of his many pseudonyms, Dumile has release several albums and appeared on collaborative projects with artists such as Danger Mouse and Madlib.

Here under the name Metal Fingers, he samples Arthur Verocai’s Seriado in his song, Passion Flower.

 



 

The many faces of DOOM: 

DANIEL DUMILE: The man behind the masks. 

ZEV LOVE X: Lead rapper with KMD (that’s a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society if you squint from the right angle), whose black power-meets-Daisy classic Mr Hood kaused… sorry caused… a fraction of the damage it deserved. 

MF DOOM: Only the warm, softly-spoken voice (now descending into an alcoholic slur) remains as he re-emerges in 1997 as Metal Face Doom with a head full of comic books, wearing a mask over his face and bearing eccentric LPs for the Fondle ‘Em label. Ditching every last vestige of his KMD past, he abandons raw funk and skewed jazz for tinny beats at un-danceable tempos, while playful narratives give way to scatter- gun surrealism. 

KING GEEDORAH: A 500-foot tall three-headed lizard inhabiting distant galaxies. Unable to visit earth for fear of the widespread panic that might ensue, he channels his philanthropic message through MF Doom. Quite why he chooses a mask-wearing loon as a conduit rather than a more credible witness like, say, respected news- reader Trevor McDonald or cosmologist Stephen Hawking, isn’t fully explained. 

VIKTOR VAUGHN: Though also derived from Marvel Comics’ Vic Von Doom, VV is a very different MC from MF. Younger, more villainous, street-smart and battle-ready, last year’s brilliant Vaudeville Villain album is an unstoppable romp through street crime, open-mic nights and voyeuristic sex. More funny ha-ha than funny weird. 

DOOM’S LIFE IN FIVE PARTS … ONE OF OURS: Daniel Dumile was actually born in London, but he emigrated to New York before he could talk. Still, with only Slick Rick to compete with in the Anglo-American rap list, he should he claimed for the UK the minute he steps back onto British soil. 

DEATH OF SUBROC: KMD’s debut album, Hr Hood, was evenly divided between angry 5 Percent diatribes (”Nitty Gritty”) and goofy Tribe-like novelties (”Peachfuzz”). Although both were released as singles, the group resented Elektra marketing them as fluffy Native Tongues, not men on a militant mission. With a darker second album in the can their mood wasn’t helped when Subroc, Dumile’s brother and KMD DJ, was killed in a car accident. A decade on the wound hasn’t healed and when Sleaze tried to discuss KMD’s tragic demise the interview was abruptly terminated. 

BL_CK B_ST_RDS: Already uneasy with the gurgles of black separatism emanating from KMD’s second album, Elektra threw the baby out with the bathwater when they saw the sleeve. The black sambo character, which had been crossed out on the Mr Hood cover in a denunciation of racist stereotyping, was now being hanged n the manner of the kids’ word game. KMD and the label parted company. Zev Love/Dumile disappeared, rumoured to be suffering from depression, fuelled by spiralling drink and drug abuse. 

REBIRTH AS MF DOOM: Oddly, he really found his voice when it deteriorated. Dooms early records are slurred, arryhythmic and blissfully unaware of such rules as scanning. But this gave him a peculiar freedom to make records no one else would even contemplate. Now that he’s re-developed something resembling a proper (if still unique) flow matched to lyrics so damn sharp you need a week to take them in, Doom is making the best records of his life. 

 

Another 9th Wonder sample of Verocai

Little Brother’s song, We Got Now on The Minstrel Show cd  uses Verocai’s song, Caboclo


 

Catch the man behind the music, Arthur Verocai, this Sunday, March 15th, 2009 for Timeless III presented by VTech and Mochilla 

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*

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Dilla Month - Ready for a Suite for MaDukes

by bacon on Feb.16, 2009, under Concerts & Tours, Timeless, Video

Last week was a big one for all of us. 2.10.09 was the 3rd anniversary of the passing of our good friend James Yancey aka J. Dilla, an amazing individual who has touched so many lives both personally and professionally.  I think back to that day in early ‘05 when we shot the now legendary 4 page spread with Stones Throw Records in the original GIANT magazine at Madlib’s studio ( the LootPack Hideaway ) in Echo Park.  Who would have thought the images from that shoot would become so intertwined with his legacy; I’ve seen them in Rolling Stone, Vibe and countless other articles both online and off.  It’s a point of pride, and a day that all of us involved will always remember.

Fast forward to 2.16.09 and we’re getting ready for the 2nd show in our  Timeless Concert Series: A Suite for Ma Dukes. This is going to be a very special evening, especially since Ma Dukes and Fam will be joining us for the evening, we can’t ait to share this with you Ma;)  Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson have labored intensely to bring this vision to reality and those in attendance will hear this performed live for the 1st time.  J. Rocc and House Shoes will open the evening with very special DJ Sets, fittingly so.  I don’t think any of us can aptly put into words the influence Dilla had and continues to have on us in our daily lives.  We are blessed to have Maureen carry on his legacy and spread the love so tirelessly. She truly is an inspiration.

I strongly encourage you to purchase tickets ahead of time, as the Mulatu show sold out quickly and we sadly had to turn hundreds away at the door.  These concerts are not typical in that they start on-time at 7pm and finish up about 11….Showing up to see the main act about when they go on usually works, but just not for this series.  Demand is high and again we will be having some very special guests joining us to celebrate Dilla’s legacy through interpretations of his music in a whole new light.  Hope to see you there and to all of you, we really can’t say enough to thank you for your support.  

I thought it would be appropriate to share this video by Mochilla that sums it up: Obrigado Dilla.  enjoy


I also wanted to share another special video , from ‘07 around the Plug Awards. As Ma Dukes says, Spread the love.


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Timeless

by admin on Jan.09, 2009, under Concerts & Tours

Timeless - The Composer/Arranger Series Presented by VTech

Timeless Concert Series

Composer/Arrangers are the antecedents of the beat makers of today. Their processes whether it be stripping down a classic cover or creating a new genre of music mirror most closely the types of minds that make contemporary beat oriented music. “Timeless” is a forward thinking review and homage to the arranger/composers that have influenced hip-hop in the heaviest and most profound ways. Representing a true international blend of music from Brazil, Ethiopia, Detroit and Los Angeles. Each composer/arranger that we have scheduled is a King of their respective court.

    Objective:

  • Encourage the appreciation of many forms of music from a multi-generational perspective with an emphasis on the practices of the present.
  • Create a yearly Composer/Arranger Series in Los Angeles.
  • Provide affordable musical experiences.

Each show will be a very specific presentation of music based around the career of each of the Composers. Each composer will do a set of their all time hits and a new piece. Each dj/producer will build a set around the legacy and era of each composer.

Sunday Evenings from February 1st to April 5th

7pm - 11pm

All Ages

Venue: Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex

Tickets through Ticketmaster and the Luckman Box Office

Event Dates

timeless_01_banner_mulatu_f21
timeless_02_banner_madukes_f31

timeless_03_banner_verocai_f21

ArtDontSleep

Musical dreams do come true. ArtDontSleep is dedicated to curating and producing concerts and events that have been dreamt up. Brasilintime, Roy Ayers & Tony Allen, George Clinton, Azymuth, Bilal, RAMP, and countless other acts have graced the ArtDontSleep stage this year alone. With the “Timeless” series, ArtDontSleep intends to elevate Los Angeles Musical Curation to a new altitude. Beginning a series that will carry on for many years to come.

Contact Info:
Andrew Lojero
artdontsleep1@gmail.com

Mochilla

Mochilla

Mochilla is a production company formed by photographers Eric Coleman and B+ in 1997. The pair were working together on a music video for DJ Shadow near the pyramids outside Mexico City - during a conversation with the Mexican producer in an attempt to explain their philosophy of shooting they had stumbled on the spanish word for backpack. In 1997 backpack was a an almost derrogatory term for independent hiphop. Backpackers kept their rhyme books or spray cans with them at all times and this required a bag. The bag would be slung across their backs so that they would be mobile. “If the equipment doesn’t fit in the backpack we wont shoot it” became the defining rule in the formation of Mochilla. It was part practical adage, part nod to the group of film makers called Dogma started by Lars Van Triers.

Broken Soul

Ten years later Mochilla has produced five music videos, four documentaries, several ad campaigns, a remix album and more than forty album covers and continues to grow. Both Coleman and B+ have taken their respective fields to new hieghts - selling films to the Sundance Channel, being distributed by Ninja Tune - touring Europe several times. They both have succesful solo careers but their continuing collaboration is housed at Mochilla.

The Musicians

Arthur Verocai

Brazilian folk-jazz composer and arranger Arthur Verocai was born in Rio de Janeiro on June 17, 1945. The product of a classical music education, he first earned widespread attention in 1966, when Leny Andrade recorded his song “Olhando o Mar” for her LP We Are There. Embracing the contemporary pop, soul, and jazz sounds emerging from both sides of the equator, Verocai gradually honed a sweeping orchestral psych-funk sensibility not far removed from American producers like David Axelrod and Charles Stepney. Despite collaborations with artists including Paulinho Tapajós, Elis Regina, and Creuza Maria, he nevertheless was forced to maintain a civil engineering position until 1969, when he scored the theatrical production Is the Greater and arranged sessions for Gal Costa, Marcos Valle, Quarteto em Cy, and others. After producing a pair of LPs for singer Célia as well as Ivan Lins’ 1971 effort Agora — as well as scoring a series of Brazilian television series — Verocai contracted with the Continental label to record a self-titled solo LP, a stunningly innovative effort that effectively bridges the divide between the Tropicalia of the late ’60s and the deep-groove funk of the decade to follow. Released in 1972, a period marked by the Brazilian military government’s opposition to creative expression, the album fared poorly and Verocai turned to advertising, writing and producing music for clients from all walks of industry. In 1983, he opened his own recording facility, Studio V, and in 2002 self-released Saudade Demais, his first solo record in three decades.

Mulatu Astatke

Mulatu Astatke (also written Astatqe on French releases) is arguably one of the most influential and legendary musicians from Ethiopia. During the 1960’s, he studied music abroad in London, Boston, and New York. He then returned home to Ethiopia armed with a love for jazz and Latin music. There he blended Ethiopian traditional music with the Latin-jazz he was so fond of to create a unique hybrid he called “Ethio-jazz”.

Mulatu Astatke is first and foremost a composer but also a multi-instrumentalist, playing the vibraphone, keyboards and organs. He is further credited as having established congas and bongos, instruments normally central to Latin styles, in Ethiopian music. However, as Ethiopian songs traditionally focused on vocals his greatest contribution to the music of his country was introducing a new focus on instrumentation.

Three of his LPs were recorded in New York City - his first two, Afro-Latin Soul Volumes 1 & 2 in 1966, plus later Mulatu of Ethiopia in 1972. The bulk of his output was on Amha Records (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) on which he released several 7″ singles as well as one LP in 1974 entitled Yekatit Ethio-Jazz. Of late, Mulatu Astatke has been the center of renewed attention in the West through a compilation on the Parisian series Ethiopiques (Buda Musique) and a 10″ 4-track compilation on the Soundway label out of Brighton England. Most notably, a number of his tracks were also featured in director Jim Jarmush’s 2005 independent film Broken Flowers with actors Bill Murray and Julie Delpy.

J Dilla

Frequently and rightly placed in the same context as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Kanye West, Jay Dee built and sustained a high standing as a producer’s producer while maintaining a low profile. When Pharrell Williams appeared on BET’s 106 & Park in 2004, he excitedly declared that Jay Dee was his favorite producer and told an audibly stumped crowd that it had probably never heard of the man. At the time, Jay Dee had been active for well over a decade and had netted enough beats — including the Pharcyde’s “Runnin’,” De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High,” Common’s “The Light,” and several others with production teams the Ummah and the Soulquarians — to be considered an all-time great.

In 1996 alone, he worked with Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, and the Pharcyde, all the while playing a major role in the Ummah with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. (He did extensive work on Tribe’s last two albums.) Before long, hardcore hip-hop fans began to know Dilla for his steady wobble, which was unfailingly musical and rich in details — shuffling high-hats, oddly placed handclaps, spacious drum loops with drastically reshaped samples of tracks both obscure and obvious. Through the remainder of the ’90s, Dilla quietly racked up more output, including Janet Jackson’s “Got ’til It’s Gone” (for which he did not receive credit), additional tracks for the Pharcyde, and collaborative work with Q-Tip on all of 1999’s Amplified. As a core member of the Soulquarians, with James Poyser and the Roots’ Ahmir “?eustlove” Thompson, Dilla worked on Common’s Like Water for Chocolate, D’Angelo’s Voodoo, Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, and Talib Kweli’s Quality. Through 2005, he continued to work with past associates while dipping his toes further in R&B. Wooed by a Madlib mixtape that featured the rhymes of Oxnard’s finest over his own beats, Dilla forged an alliance with his admirer for 2003’s Champion Sound, released under the name Jaylib. It was around this time that his health took a sharp decline. For over two years, he had to use a dialysis machine. Despite having to perform in a wheelchair, he was still able to tour in Europe during late 2005. Donuts, an album of instrumentals that had been completed during one of his extended hospital stays, was released on February 7, his 32nd birthday. Three days later, while staying at his Los Angeles home with his mother, he passed away, a victim of cardiac arrest.

Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
SUITE FOR MA DUKES

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Carlos Nino and multi-instrumentalist and composer/arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, have been working together on a wide variety of projects over the last several years. It all started when Nino hired Atwood-Ferguson’s string quartet, Supernova, to perform on the record Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio LOVE IS THE ANSWER (Ninja Tune). It was during the pre-production of this project, in 2004, that Nino would first meet, befriend, and license music from, one of his heroes, and Aquarian brother, James “Jay Dee/J Dilla” Yancey. It’s fair to say, that Atwood-Ferguson, classically trained as a violist, (from the age of 4 years old,) first consciously came into contact with Dilla’s music from being a part of this ground-breaking collaboration.

Fast forward two years - after Nino & Atwood-Ferguson completed work on the highly acclaimed indie records Ammoncontact WITH VOICES (Ninja Tune,) and The Life Force Trio LIVING ROOM (Plug Research) - in February, 2007, several days after his 32nd birthday, Dilla passed away due to Lupus related complications. After his untimely death, the two chose to pay tribute to Dilla by continuing the musical conversation that he had started, in the contemporary chamber music style that Atwood-Ferguson had been developing. On, what would have been, Dilla’s 33rd birthday, February 7, 2007, Nino & Atwood-Ferguson sent their version of Common’s “Nag Champa (Afrodisiac for the World,)” to DJs, producers and fans, for free, via the internet.

On February 7, 2008 they released their version of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Find A Way,” and have just recently completed an E.P., entitled SUITE FOR MA DUKES. On September 27, 2008, Atwood-Ferguson was flown to Amsterdam, Netherlands to play viola in the world premier performance of his Dilla Arrangements, as part of the Metropole Orchestra’s 30 minute tribute to this great Hip-Hop-Soul master, at The Boost Festival.

Having produced albums for Build An Ark (Kindred Spirits,) Mia Doi Todd (City Zen,) Grace Woodroofe (for Executive Producer Heath Ledger,) Ariana Delawari (alongside David Lynch,) as well as a duet album entitled Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson FILL THE HEART SHAPED CUP (Alpha Pup,) these two have kept a very busy work schedule. Still, no matter how many live performances and recording sessions Atwood-Ferguson books, with everyone from Erykah Badu, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Dre, Ray Charles, John Williams, and many others, as well as having at least 5 different production and arranging projects going at all times, and no matter how much Nino is creatively up to, they find time to connect in the essence of Dilla. It is there that they celebrate Maurice Ravel, Bernard Herman, Charles Stepney, James Brown, The Bomb Squad and so many others, all at once!

The Co-Stars

The work of these composers/arrangers very often is lost behind the names of the stars they produced for (in the case of Axelrod and Dilla) or indeed never was given a proper shine when it was first released. However the work of the hiphop dj and producer is to bring to light rarely heard and rarely experienced music. All these producers have enjoyed resurgences in their careers from attention paid to them by hiphops finest. To frame these historic performances we have invited some of these great artists to create the musical environment. These will be specific sets by some of hiphops finest.

Madlib

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 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 Wildchild, Madlib formed Lootpack in their hometown of Oxnard. The trio made their debut on Tha Alkaholiks’ 21 & Over in 1993. They continued doing work for Tha Alkaholiks and other artists before releasing their full-length Soundpieces: Da Antidote! six years later. 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 Yesterdays New Quintet project. Madlib played all the instruments himself, infusing his exploration of jazz with both style and substance. Another stylistic detour followed in late 2002, when he released Blunted in the Bomb Shelter Mix, a spin through the vault of the classic dub/reggae label Trojan. While continuing on with a massive release schedule and workload, Madlib completed a remix/reinterpretation project for Blue Note, a collaboration with Jay Dee under the Jaylib alias, a collaboration with MF Doom, half the production 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 new releases, including The Funky Side of Life from jazz band Sound Directions, Quasimoto’s The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, his own Beat Konducta, Vols. 1-2, and a collaboration with Talib Kweli, Liberation, which was made available as a free download on the Stones Throw website during the first week of 2007.

Cut Chemist

Cut Chemist has been recording and performing for over twenty years. His roots lie deep in hip hop as a founding member of the rap group Jurassic 5. During this time Cut also joined the latin jazz/ funk outfit, Ozomatli. Both groups have gone on to be staples in the L.A. music scene. With the involvement of both groups in tandem with one another, Cut has developed a taste for music and rhythms from all over the world while keeping his tradition for the hip hop approach. Eventually Cut left both of these groups to pursue a career with Warner Bros records where he landed his first solo LP, The Audiences Listening in 2006.

2007 was a pivotal year for Cut as he landed an opening slot for Shakira’s Oral Fixation tour dazzling her audience with his world music sense and multi media presentation. When he returned home he joined long time friend and collaborator DJ Shadow to headline the Hollywood Bowl for “The Hard Sell,” an eight turntable show using an eclectic mix of music all on 7 inch vinyl. While in rehearsal for this show, L.A.’s prestigious Walt Disney Music Hall asked Cut to be a part of “Pravda,” a concept night of DJs combining Russian classical music from the Stalin era with contemporary beats.

There is no place that Cut Chemist is afraid to go, musically. He constantly tries to integrate new cultures of music into his show while presenting it in a hip hop fashion. “Ill never lose sight of my roots as a hip hop DJ. It keeps me constantly inventing. I believe all music can be considered hip hop when its presented in a way that’s fresh to peoples ears.”

J.ROCC

J.Rocc is a world champion turntablist and founder of Southern California’s internationally-acclaimed DJ crew, the Beat Junkies. Possessing the imagination and skills to alter the traditional purpose of the turntable, J.Rocc transformed the spinning wheel into his musical instrument. He delivers exciting and dynamic sets without “killing” the original recordings. His individual approach consists of focusing on smooth, rhythmic transitions and building an energetic vibe that produces the explosive performances he is known for.

J.Rocc continues to invent musical styles that display his creative expertise. He has produced albums with the Beat Junkies and Babu of Dilated Peoples, as well as his own numerous mixtapes. Highly recognized for his funky showcases and original arrangements, he has shared the stage with hip-hop phenomenons Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Jurassic 5.

Quantic (Columbia)

Since William Holland AKA Quantic’s first album release in 2001, much ground has been covered. Over the last 8 or so years 12 full length records have given him worldwide recognition. When he is not producing music that continues to push genre boundaries he travels as a DJ or with his band spreading his unique blend of Jazz, Latin & Caribbean rooted music. His track ‘Mi Swing es Tropical’ with Nickodemus further brought him to a global audience when it featured in Apple’s tropical Ipod Advert throughout 2007. Shortly after which Holland moved to Colombia, setting up his South American studio ‘Sonido del Valle’ to work alongside a whole host of new musicians in Cali. 2009 will see the first release from his new band ‘Combo Bárbaro’ on Tru Thoughts Records. The record comprises of work with Peruvian Pianist ‘Alfredo Linares’ & Brazilian Arranger ‘Arthur Verocai’. for more info visit www.quantic.org.

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