Search Results for: kamasi washington

Kamasi Washington: The Jazz 2015 In Soulfest 2015

September 6, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

“Australia’s First Annual Neo Soul, Jazz & Hip Hop Festival” needs some jazz, right?

The inaugural Soulfest 2014 delivered a line-up of spectacular soul and hip hop artists to Australian and New Zealand shores. Best of all it included D’Angelo & The Vanguard afresh, not long before the release of Black Messiah and they got busy playing shows around the wider world.

D'Angelo live concert - Melbourne Soulfest 2014

D’Angelo at Soulfest 2014- Melbourne

: Angie Stone

: Mos Def

: Maxwell

: Common

: Anthony Hamilton

: Leela James

Soulfest 2015, in by bringing saxophonist, composer and bandleader Kamasi Washington from the U.S. to Australia (and New Zealand) to play, has Jazz 2015 in its finest form sufficiently and wonderfully covered.

Kamasi Washington (photo by Mike Park)

If you travel in the musical realms of contemporary jazz, soul, R&B, electronica or hip hop, chances are you’ve already got the sounds of Kamasi Washington in your music collection- and maybe just don’t know it (especially if you buy your music digitally and miss out on reading an album’s linear notes with the names of all the artists who created it). You’re Dead! or Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus? To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar? Up by Stanley Clarke? The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam by Stephen Bruner (aka Thundercat)? In My Time by Gerald Wilson? All of the above?

Maybe you’ve been blessed to hear Kamasi Washington playing live on stage alongside Chaka Khan, Snoop Dog, Gerald Wilson, Wayne Shorter, Raphael Saddiq, Stanley Clarke or Lauryn Hill?

Or maybe you’re totally onto the workings of Kamasi Washington and recently added his first solo album The Epic to your music collection? Are eagerly awaiting its forthcoming release on sweet vinyl? And/or just had the pleasure of hearing he and The Next Step/West Coast Get Down “throw it up in air” to “see where it lands” at a live show in the States?

If not, well, right here and now is a good time to check out the sounds of Jazz 2015 by some of our time’s most innovative musicians, with the first track from The Epic journey sampled below. Listen, and keep listening, as the story keeps unfolding. Enjoy the space it leaves you in during its final moments. And like always, remember this here sample is just a compressed mp3 glimpse of the full sound.

The Epic (2015)

Kamasi Washington – “Change of the Guard” – The Epic (Volume 1 – The Plan)

If you’re inspired to experience the whole of The Epic story in its uncompressed glory, buy the entire 17-track, three-volume, 172 minute-long album here.

For an extra-special experience of Kamasi Washington’s music, find your way to Soulfest 2015 and elsewhere he and his band are playing it live. Discover where the sounds land at that particular show. Just know the bonus of getting it at Soulfest is that Kamasi Washington’s jazz set will be amongst performances by some of history’s most beloved soul and hip hop artists too.

Soulfest 2015 tickets here.

Folks in Australia wanting a longer, cosier live experience of Kamasi Washington and his band can also catch their Sydney sideshow on Oct 22nd.

Filed Under: Kamasi Washington, North America (USA), Soulfest Tagged With: australia, change of the guard, festival, jazz, kamasi washington, music, soulfest, the epic

WOMADelaide 2018 – Worth The Distance

March 18, 2018 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Most artists that perform at WOMADelaide travel a long way to get there. As Cuba’s young jazz sensation Daymé Arocena told the crowd during one of her festival sets, it was a 36 hour journey for her and her band.

Despite those gruelling travel distances performing artists are inevitably seen on WOMADelaide stages smiling and speaking genuinely of how blessed they feel to be there. And for good reasons.

Daymé Arocena live concert - WOMADelaide 2018

Daymé Arocena at WOMADelaide 2018

They are programmed to perform amongst hundreds of incredibly diverse and phenomenally-talented music, arts and dance artists from all corners of the world. Those performances are to crowds who are warm, friendly, welcoming, open-eared and super appreciative of the chance to experience them. And they happen under sunny blue skies amongst the magical trees of Adelaide’s Botanic Park.

Like each festival past, WOMADelaide 2018 was a delightful 4 day feast of non-stop live music, dance, theatre, food, art installations, workshops, environmental speakers and more. Punters could take their pick of genres ranging from classical Indian, electronica, Australian hip hop, Latin fusion, contemporary psychedelic jazz, highlife from Ghana, Icelandic/Swedish folk to Malian desert blues – and lots more in between.

: Place des Anges

: Rodrigo y Gabriela

: Thundercat

: Sly Dunbar

: Remi & Sampa

: Tinariwen

: Chico Trujillo

: Nai Palm

: Dustyesky

: Place des Anges

: Thievery Corporation

: Kamasi Washington

: Tank and the Bangas

: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

: Havana Meets Kingston

LA’s tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington and his band The Next Step brought the refreshing flavours of progressive jazz to WOMADelaide.

Kamasi Washington

Every single note played in this set was a joy to hear. And the obvious display of humility, respect and appreciation each musician on stage has for one another, was a pleasure to watch. Every player had their turn to shine while the others listened. And Kamasi Washington was happy to use 15 minutes of his 75 minute set to play one of his “favourite songs in the world”, written by “one of his favourite musicians in the world”, The Next Step’s keyboardist Brandon Coleman. The remaining set time was given to songs from The Epic and Washington’s more recent EP Harmony of Difference. And all of it was simply sublime.

Brandon Coleman

Humility by Kamasi Washington – Harmony of Difference

In stark contrast to Kamasi Washington’s set was the main stage closing performance that followed from Havana Meets Kingston– led by Melbourne’s Jake “Mista” Savona.

With 14 or so very talented and experienced musicians in the group including long-established legends like Jamaica’s Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare and Winston “Bopee” Bowen; and Cuba’s Barbarito Torres, Rolando Luna and Julito Padron, this show could have been spectacular. What it was in fact, was underwhelming.

Julito Padron

Rolando Luna

The group progressively lost the crowd to other stages or home as loose, seemingly unrehearsed songs from the Havana Meets Kingston album were played; and, as Jake Savona gave directions to musicians over the microphone and delivered long-winded, narcissistic commentary in between songs about how he came up with and put the project together.

Thundercat, aka bass virtuosic, singer, songwriter and producer Stephen Bruner, was another refreshing and welcome inclusion in the WOMADelaide 2018 program. Most songs in his set were from his latest album Drunk, which he asked the crowd if they had before stating with a laugh “Isn’t it messed up?”. Thundercat fans would get why he’d say that – but I’d say kooky, humorous, musically complex and innovative, awesome and utterly unique are better descriptives.

Thundercat

Hearing Stephen Bruner, Dennis Hamm (keys) and Justin Brown (drums) play their instruments live, especially jamming out within songs, each with insane levels of musicianship and skill, was simply one of those crazy-amazing music experiences we’re all looking for.

Dennis Hamm

Justin Brown

Hear a sample of Thundercat’s awesomely “messed up” Drunk tracks here:

Them Changes by Thundercat Featuring Flying Lotus – Drunk

WOMADelaide did another wonderful thing in bringing one-of-a-kind New Orleans group Tank and the Bangas to Australia for the first time. Despite the tough gig they landed in facing the burning afternoon sun they gave a stunning and energetic performance. The band played flawlessly but it was hard to take your eyes and ears off beautiful lead vocalist and poet Tarriona “Tank” Ball as she sung her heart out and bounced around the stage poking her tongue out, dancing, smiling and otherwise sharing her delightful personality and artistry.

Tank and the Bangas

Having spent the past 6 months recording a new album, not playing live shows, Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela admitted to being a little nervous to start. Not surprisingly it only took them a few minutes on stage to settle back in and “remember what to do”. Individually as musicians and together as a duo, they proceeded to create that indescribable guitar magic they’re known and loved for worldwide.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote) was also a 2018 festival highlight. She performed this show on the heels of her recent solo album release Needle Paw – showcasing those songs in mesmerizing harmony with the the album’s three back-up singers as well as the Adelaide bats.

Nai Palm

Good vibes of the musical and other sorts were created by all WOMADelaide 2018 participants. There’s no doubt they should (and do) appreciate that WOMADelaide exists in Australia to bring everyone the distance and make them smile.

Thievery Corporation

You can check out video footage of WOMADelaide 2018 live performances by Nai Palm, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington & The Next Step, Havana Meets Kingston, Pat Thomas and Daymé Arocena here. And find more photos from those and other WOMADelaide shows on Facebook.

Filed Under: Kamasi Washington, Mista Savona, Nai Palm, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Tank and the Bangas, Thundercat, WOMADelaide Tagged With: australia, brandon coleman, festival, havana meets kingston, kamasi washington, tank and the bangas, thundercat, womad, womadelaide

Miles Mosley Uprising

September 17, 2017 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

When L.A. artist Miles Mosley sings “mediocrity is everywhere, but not here” on his album Uprising, I have to agree. In 2017 jazz and funk music lovers will be hard-pressed trying to find the type and quality of sounds offered up on this album.

Uprising (2017)

Its 11 tracks were among 190 recorded by a collective of some of today’s most innovative artists and killer musicians during the one-month long West Coast Get Down sessions in L.A. Both Uprising and Kamasi Washington’s double album The Epic were amongst the fruits of those studio labours.

Miles Mosley is responsible for playing bass, composing, producing and arranging on most of Uprising‘s tracks. And as well as Kamasi Washington contributional credits go to West Coast Get Down members Zane Musa (tenor saxophone) – Christopher Gray, James Ford and Dontae Winslow (trumpet) – Tony Austin (drums/production/engineering), Brandon Coleman (keys) – Patrice Quinn (vocals/production) – Ryan Porter (trombone) – Cameron Graves (piano) – Barbara Sealy (production/lyrics) – Leah Zener and Ray Suen (violin) – Tom Lea and Mike Whitson (viola) – Peter Jacobson and Chris Votek (cello) and Allakoi Pete (percussion).

: Patrice Quinn

: Ryan Porter

: Kamasi Washington

: Brandon Coleman

Uprising’s song lyrics and their delivery by Miles Mosley exude strength, determination, confidence and passion. And when you hear them you can’t help but feel the contagiousness of those qualities.

Hear the absence of mediocrity for yourself in these two sample tracks from Uprising. The usual ‘mp3-only’ warning applies. So does the recommendation to support Miles Mosley and his collaborators by buying a hard copy of the full album in its uncompressed sonic glory.

Young Lion – Miles Mosley

Fire – Miles Mosley

Also check out this video snippet of Miles Mosley performing the album’s first single “Abraham” with Kamasi Washington & The Next Step live at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016.

Filed Under: Miles Mosley, North America (USA) Tagged With: abraham, album, fire, funk, jazz, miles mosley, uprising, west coast get down, young lion

New York City Music Delights

August 27, 2017 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

How do people living in New York City find the time to work when the music and dance experiences on offer seem endless? That’s what I asked myself daily as I struggled to fit in the bare necessities of sleeping and eating while fulfilling my one and only New York commitment: soaking up as much live music and dance as possible.

I rose to the challenge, managing to fit 50 music and dance events into four happy weeks. Some I wouldn’t choose again if I had my time over. But any disappointments at the time didn’t matter. Knowing that the next day in New York and every one after would bring many more, is a blessed thing and a heavenly feeling for any beaver on the beats.

: Robert Glasper

Choices Choices Choices

Getting on top of the live gigs and parties on offer and selectively choosing between them is key to finding yourself the most sublime of musical experiences in whatever time you have there. Of course if you’re actually living in New York City it’s a different story. Missing out on one act because you’ve chosen another on the same night, or because you have to work, isn’t a big deal ‘cause the one that got away this time will play another show soon enough.

In The Summer Time

If you are music-holidaying then it’s best to pick a Summer-time visit. Festivals, concerts, parties, dance comps and other music events happen all year round in New York City. But like most places in the world the warmer months bring a whole lot more. And lots are free. Checking out the programs for Summerstage, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, Northside Festival and Blue Note Jazz Festival is a great start.

Kamasi Washington live concert - Northside Festival 2017

Kamasi Washington & The Next Step at Northside Festival 2017

Plan To Be Gluttonous

So many shows you want to get to, some of them the same night and only 24 hours in a day. Yep, it’s tough. But you can fit more into one day than you think. Lots of venues have early and late shows to choose from in a night. The same artist is often playing both. Short and long term artist residencies are common so you might have multiple nights to catch them. Parties and dance comps happen at all different times of the afternoon and evening.

Know what’s on when, be organised and you can move from one event to the next with gluttonous ease.

Cross Its Boroughs

Geographically speaking New York City isn’t actually that big. But the cultural diversity found between and within its different neighbourhoods is incredibly rich and beautiful. Getting a feel for its many flavours and discovering your favourites by checking out music events all over the city is super-rewarding.

Higher end clubs might be your thing. You’ll find plenty in hoods like the Meatpacking District. Jazz heads will find lots of choices in West Village and Greenwich Village. You can place yourself in a more uptight environment at venues like Blue Note or the Village Vanguard; or go for a friendlier, freer, less pretentious vibe at venues like Smalls or its nearly sister club Mezzrow.

Happier in outdoor music spaces? Then head to a joyous weekend party on Coney Island Boardwalk. Or hang out in Central Park and wander between African drummers and dancers, Summerstage concerts, a men’s doo wop group and dance skaters.

Robert Glasper Experiment - SummerStage 2017

Robert Glasper Experiment at SummerStage 2017

To check out hip hop’s birth place get to The Bronx for a dance competition. Party an afternoon away with Puerto Ricans in a Spanish Harlem park. And get your skanking fix at a reggae gig in Jamaica, Queens. Dress up and cross city lines for a concert at New Jersey Performing Arts Centre. Or maybe you’re brave enough to make your way through the freaky of Times Square for a live show at BB King.

If you’re comfortable amongst a privileged, hipster crowd then choose gigs in the super-gentrified Williamsburg. To experience a broader reflection of Brooklyn’s diversity get to a family friendly, good vibes concert at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival.

Bilal at Celebrate Brooklyn 2017

Venues Matter

Consider venues when you make your event choices. A venue and the people it brings, no matter what the band sounds like, can make the difference between a good and a bad music experience.

If you don’t want to be in a crowd of people talking so much it’s hard to hear the performance; or trying to dance on a sticky floor with alcohol spilled across it, you’ll need to give some venues a miss. I went to three frustrating gigs like that at Brooklyn Bowl before I reluctantly had to cross it off my options list despite its great program of acts.

Son Little with Soulive at Brooklyn Bowl

If you’d rather be in a space where people around you are there to actually listen and appreciate the music; where it’s simply understood or you’re expressly asked not to use your phone, you’ll find joy at venues like Smalls, t he Village Vanguard and Blue Note. For a totally unique experience of that kind, check out regular open mic nights like All That Hip Hop Poetry & Jazz at Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

The Seasoned and The Fresh

Long-beloved artists who’ve been making and performing music for many decades won’t be around to do so much longer. You might want to prioritise their shows over those of younger acts while you still can. Sometimes those choices will pay off. Sometimes not.

Making the mission to Only In Queens Summer Festival to be amongst all corners of the world hearing George Clinton and the all-ages members of Parliament Funkadelic kill it on stage again, was the perfect choice.

Paying dearly to sit through the tackiness and cheese of tassled, sparkly, bikini-clad dancers fawning over Ronald and Ernie Isley as they performed at The Isley Brothers concert was not.

It’s Your Thing by The Isley Brothers

Turns out after all that my most rewarding New York event choices were to check out the fresh sounds, many of them improvised, being created by more contemporary acts – especially the ones playing in more informal, laid-back venues. Kris Bowers, Joel Ross Good Vibes, Keyon Harrold, Robert Glasper Experiment, Taylor McFerrin with Marcus Gilmore and revered Tiny Desk winners Tank and the Bangas were amongst them.

4 Am by Taylor McFerrin – Early Riser

Tank and the Bangas live concert - New York

Tank and the Bangas at Blue Note

Party Picks

Parties put on in bars and clubs. Neighbourhood block parties. Rooftop parties. Parties on Coney Island Boardwalk. Parties in city parks. Vinyl Parties amongst the neon lights of Times Square. New York City is a music and dance lovers’ delight for its choices of dope parties. One of your best chances for finding them is to regularly check events posted on DanceDeets. And of course when you find a DJ you’re into, follow him or her to their next gig.

Visual arts lovers could wisely choose to start their Tuesday night at the Delancey for Collage NYC. There you can dance to killer DJs as New York City artists create musically-themed artworks before your eyes.

Inbox Full

Discover all your choices by keeping a check on social media sites for upcoming shows by your beloved artists; and subscribing to venue and event mailing lists until your inbox can’t take no more.

These here sites will give music-holidayers a heap of choices to start filling their New York City Summer days and nights: Governors Ball Festival – Northside Festival – SummerStage – Blue Note Jazz Festival – BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn – Hot 97 Summer Jam – Brooklyn Academy of Music – AfroPunk – Brooklyn Based – New York Live Arts – Brooklyn Bazaar – Do NYC – The Joyce Theatre – Jazz at Lincoln Centre – 92y – Le Poisson Rouge – Smoke Jazz Club – Smalls Live – Mezzrow – Red Rooster – Zinc Bar – The McKittrick Hotel – Fat Cat – 55 Bar – Arlene’s Grocery – Bowery Electric – Nuyorican Poets Cafe – The Kitchen – BB King Blues – Minton’s – National Sawdust – Birdland Jazz Club – Symphony Space – Brooklyn Bowl – Blue Note Jazz Club – Highline Ballroom – Cielo – DanceDeets.

“The Music Capital of the World”

One time in Colombia a musicologist told me that Bogota is the music capital of the world. Now for sure Bogota has a rich and thriving music scene. But I had to doubt his statement in light of what New York City is famous for offering.

I’ve now been music-holidaying in both cities and am sure he was wrong. Even if there is such a thing as “the music capital of the world” New York City must trump Bogota and most, if not all world cities as being It, surely? Every scene, every music genres and every type of event is available for the taking in New York – seven days and nights. So I’ll never figure out how its music loving residents find the time to work. But I know it’s a heavenly-sublime city for any beaver on the beats to live in or visit.

Get your glimpse here of a tiny handful of the countless New York City music events that went down in Summer 2017.

Check out more videos by clicking on the artist/event name:

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic – The Whispers – Kamasi Washington – Keyon Harrold – Ben Williams bass solo– Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch & The Soul Rebels – Alice Smith – Bilal – Kris Bowers – Son Little with Soulive – Griz with Soulive – Cover Story Doo Wop – The Isley Brothers – Taylor McFerrin & Marcus Gilmore – Robert Glasper Experiment – Karl Denson with Soulive – Tank and the Bangas – Joel Ross Good Vibes – Lesedi Ntsane – Break 4 Justice Dance Battles – Final Dance Battle – LGNDS: The Return

Filed Under: Joel Ross, Kamasi Washington, Keyon Harrold, North America (USA), Parliament-Funkadelic, Robert Glasper, Son Little, Talib Kweli, Tank and the Bangas, Taylor McFerrin, The Isley Brothers, The Soul Rebels, The Whispers Tagged With: bilal, concert, funkadelic, george clinton, isley brothers, kamasi washington, keyon harrold, music, new york, new york city, parties, robert glasper, son little, tank and the bangas, taylor mcferrin, whispers

Thundercat Drunk, Dark And Hypnotically Good

May 14, 2017 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

You might think hearing Thundercat (aka Stephen Bruner) sing about drunkenness, madness, the discriminatory police state, heartbreak, rejection, death and so on, would make you feel blue. But you’re probably wrong.

Despite its dark lyrical themes Thundercat’s third album Drunk in its whole sonic journey, somehow turns out to be a hypnotic, feel-good experience.

Drunk (2017)

For starters any lyrical downers on the album are expressed by Thundercat straight up and honestly with refreshing kookiness and humour. There’s also a saving light to be found in the darkness as well as crazy space rides to be had, the joy of letting loose on anime and fish in Tokyo and the nine pleasurable lives of a cat hanging out in the sunshine. And more importantly, hearing Thundercat’s smooth falsetto voice singing those lyrics consistently over 23 tracks has the effect of lulling you into a hypnotic place of serenity, simple as that.

Drunk is full of so many diversely weird and wonderful programmed beats care of Steven Ellison (Flying Lotus), Sounwave and Thundercat himself that you can’t help but feel you’re winning your way through a super-fun computer game. Add to that the living instrumental sounds of Thundercat on electric bass, Dennis Hamm on piano and saxophone by Kamasi Washington; plus vocal contributions by both likely and seemingly unlikely artists like Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald – and there you have your complete hypnotic, feel-good sonic experience.

Check out two sample tracks from Drunk below – with the usual ‘compressed-mp3-version’ warning. Get the real deal in hard copy from your local music store or direct from Brainfeeder so you don’t miss out on the pleasure of hearing all the many subtle sounds this album has to offer.

Show You The Way – Thundercat featuring Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins

Walk On By – Thundercat featuring Kendrick Lamar

Filed Under: North America (USA), Thundercat Tagged With: drunk, kendrick lamar, kenny loggins, michael mcdonald, new album, show you the way, stephen bruner, thundercat, walk on by

Bluesfest 2016 – Embracing Contemporary Hip Hop, Soul & Jazz Of The Highest Order

April 3, 2016 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Blessed be lovers of innovative contemporary hip hop, R&B, funk and jazz music for the gift of consecutive live performances by Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo, Kamasi Washington and Hiatus Kaiyote on the one stage at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016.

Hiatus Kaiyote

Kamasi Washington

Kendrick Lamar

D’Angelo

If you’re one of those music lovers you’ll know that every single one of the many musicians and vocalists who performed on stage with those artists on Thursday and Saturday nights (minus Kendrick Lamar on Saturday) are amongst the most skilful, talented and innovative creators of funkified jazz and soul music in the world right now. Having been influenced by and collaborating on each others’ music projects, all of them were in perfect company together on the main stage. And anyone lucky enough to be there would have found themselves in musical heaven – mesmerised by each and every sublime sound delivered by those artists.

Hiatus Kaiyote

As musical creators Melbourne’s “future-soul” group Hiatus Kaiyote earned their place on a bill with Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo, Kamasi Washington and their accompanying artists. As live instrumentalists, vocalists and performers on stage in the flesh at Bluesfest, Hiatus Kayote undoubtedly demonstrated their rightful place amongst them to audiences made up of both punters and those contemporary music peers alike.

Hiatus Kaiyote at Bluesfest 2016

As well as delivering a welcome acknowledgment of the passing of the great hip hop creator Phife Dawg during their Thursday set, Nai Palm (vocals/guitars/keys), Simon Mavin (keys/samples), Paul Bender (bass), Perrin Moss (drums) and their three background vocalists delivered two stunning sets of songs drawn mainly from Choose Your Weapon and including a new song on the video below, and as always; showed audiences their unique “multi-dimensional, polyrhythmic gangster” sound is at its most supreme when heard live.

Kamasi Washington

The inclusion of L.A-based saxophonist Kamasi Washington in the 2016 line-up was a welcome surprise after the cancellation of his first visit to Australia last year when Soulfest folded at the last minute.

Kamasi Washington at Bluesfest 2016

Each Bluesfest show Kamasi Washington performed with The Next Step / West Coast Get Down sounded unique. But both were definitely a family affair; a collective affair; and a humble and respectful one. Parts of Kamasi Washington’s recent jazz masterpiece The Epic were performed as well as some new music by him. But this was not a one-man Kamasi Washington show. It was a showcase of the sublime funkified jazz music and skills of all the incredible artists on stage with him who grew up playing music together. Everyone had their moments to shine during the sets and when it wasn’t their turn they listened, enjoyed, and appreciated what they heard from one other.

Ryan Porter and Kamasi Washington live concert 016

Ryan Porter w/ Kamasi Washington

Audiences were treated to the sounds of Kamasi Washington playing with his father Ricky Washington (who “taught him everything he knows”) on flute and with Ryan Porter (“one of his mentors”) on trombone; drum solos and drum-offs between Ronald Bruner Jr and Tony Austin; a jam between Kamasi Washington and Ronald Bruner Jr (“like they’ve being doing together since he got his first drum-kit at 3 years old”); a must-hear song “Abraham” about to be released by double-bass player/vocalist Miles Mosley, and another from keyboardist Brandon Coleman; with vocals by Patrice Quinn (“the most beautiful voice he’s heard”).

Brandon Coleman

Miles Mosley

Kamasi Washington & Ricky Washington live concert 2016

Ricky & Kamasi Washington

Ronald Bruner Jr

Tony Austin

Patrice Quinn

Kamasi Washington and the other artists who joined him on Australian stages undoubtedly gained a huge number of new admirers. Hopefully that brings any or all of them back again to play soon.

Check out snippets of video footage from Kamasi Washington’s two Bluesfest 2016 shows below and hear sample tracks from The Epic (2015) here.

D’Angelo And The Vanguard

Accompanying D’Angelo at his Bluesfest shows were Jesse Johnson and Isaiah Sharkey on guitars, Chris “Daddy” Dave on drums, Rocco Palladino on bass, Bobby Ray Sparks on keys/samples and Jermaine Holmes and Charles “Red” Middleton on background vocals.

D'Angelo & Jesse Johnson live - Bluesfest 2016

D’Angelo & Jesse Johnson at Bluesfest 2016

Despite a curious set list taking audiences back to the glorious D’Angelo eras of Brown Sugar and Voodoo, with only glimpses of the more recent ground-breaking album Black Messiah, D’Angelo and the 7 sublimely-skilled musicians and vocalists with him on stage delivered delightfully funky, soulful, rocked-out performances that were technically flawless.

D’Angelo himself dazzled and seduced the crowd with his skills and artistry on guitar and piano, his contagiously-huge smile and his other-wordly vocal range. He left no doubt that he’s a musician, artist and performer of extraordinary genius in contemporary times, akin to the most legendary of funk, R&B and rock greats of our musical history.

Check out a video of the grammy-award winning Black Messiah song “Really Love”, performed live at Bluesfest on Saturday.

Click here for more videos & photos from all 4 of D’Angelo’s Australian shows this time around.

Kendrick Lamar

Thankfully Bluesfest ignored any naysayers who questioned Kendrick Lamar headlining a festival that might have started as “blues and roots” 27 years ago – but long ago moved forward to expand it’s line-up for the musical good of the broader population.

Before Kendrick Lamar’s set I wondered how the complex musical wonder of To Pimp A Butterfly would translate in the live arena. But the Compton rapper brought a killer band on tour with him. That live instrumentation combined with the sharp and clear lyrical flow delivered by Kendrick Lamar with 100% passion and conviction, simply commanded attention and awe through every moment of the 75 minute set that flew by in a flash. From start to finish Kendrick Lamar made it abundantly clear that the experience of hearing his music performed live is profoundly more brilliant than the studio-version.

Kendrick Lamar at Bluesfest 2016

Check out these video snippets from Kendrick Lamar’s Bluesfest show plus a sample track below from the newly-released album untitled unmastered (2016).

x
Kendrick Lamar – untitled 02 | 06.23.2014 – untitled unmastered (2016)

Bluesfest Appreciation

Byron Bay Bluesfest – this year was a dream.

In my book Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo, The Vanguard, Kamasi Washington, The Next Step, West Coast Get Down and Hiatus Kaiyote are the artists in the world right now creating the freshest sounding, most innovative blends of funk, soul, R&B, hip hop and jazz. All except Hiatus Kaiyote (Melbourne-based), Bluesfest brought those artists a long way to deliver spectacular live performances on Australian shores. In doing so they filled a big gap left by the cancellation of Soulfest – “Australia’s first annual neo-soul, jazz & hip hop festival” which didn’t make it to its second year.

Thanks go to Bluesfest for embracing those contemporary artists and delivering the most blessed of line-ups in 2016!

D’Angelo

Hiatus Kaiyote

Kendrick Lamar

Kamasi Washington

Note: Despite feeling 100% satisfied by my Bluesfest 2016 experience, it was a limited one for sure. I went for 2 of 5 festival days, stayed at 1 of 6 festival stages and heard only 4 of 82 acts on the bill. A whole other world of music was happening over the five festival days – from Tom Jones to Allen Stone through to The Wailers – and a range of performing indigenous artists at the festival within the festival- Boomerang. I just can’t tell you about them here.

But you can check in to Beaver on the Beats on Facebook for more festival photos coming of D’Angelo, Hiatus Kaiyote, Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington. 🙂

Filed Under: Byron Bay Bluesfest, D'Angelo, Hiatus Kaiyote, Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar Tagged With: australia, bluesfest, byron bay, d'angelo, festival, hiatus kaiyote, kamasi washington, kendrick lamar, the next step, unmastered, untitled, west coast get down

D’Angelo Live In Australia – One, Two, Three, Four

March 29, 2016 by Beaver on the Beats 5 Comments

After experiencing the first three of D’Angelo’s four incredible Australian shows, I was mysteriously left feeling less than fully satisfied. It didn’t make sense when D’Angelo and The mini Vanguard touring with him had just delivered flawless, stunning performances to Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay Bluesfest audiences.

#1 – Melbourne’s Palais Theatre

# 2 – Sydney Opera House

# 3 – Byron Bay Bluesfest

D’Angelo, Every Time

D’Angelo’s phenomenal vocal range and delivery as well as his skills on piano and guitar, are unquestionable. They are simply and absolutely sublime to hear live – every time.

So is Michael “D’Angelo” Archer’s joyful high energy and super-smooth, confident engagement with the crowd. Man or woman, even if you only care about the sounds of music, who out there wouldn’t blush if D’angelo looked you in the eye and pointed at you while ever-so-naturally singing “I feel like makin’ love to you” in his voice from on high?

At all his Australian shows D’Angelo undoubtedly demonstrated he’s a musician, artist and performer of equal wonder to the legendary R&B, funk and soul artists who influenced and shaped him. Some of them he payed tribute to in his sets (“She’s Always In My Hair” by Prince, “Red Hot Mama” by Funkadelic and “Brent Fischer Interlude” by Black Messiah collaborator Brent Fischer). D’Angelo does all those artists and their music justice, and then some. And how many contemporary artists can we say that about in 2016?

No I don’t think my slight and mysterious dissatisfaction was about D’Angelo’s performances. They made me smile from ear to ear in awe.

The [mini] Vanguard

Did I miss hearing the distinctive bass sounds of Pino Palladino, the live horns and the gorgeous complementary female vocals of Kendra Foster or Joi Gilliam usually heard with The Vanguard? Sure I did. But their absence alone wasn’t leaving me with that feeling.

Because technically the seven insanely-skilled musicians on stage with D’Angelo played and sang almost flawlessly. Although he appeared nervous or daunted at times, Pino’s son Rocco Palladino did an admirable job on bass. And any opportunity to hear Chris “Daddy” Dave on drums, Jesse Johnson and Isaiah Sharkey on guitars, Bobby Ray Sparks on keys/samples or Jermaine Holmes and Charles “Red” Middleton on background vocals…is a blessed one I would gleefully take any time. They all killed it. And I appreciated hearing every note they played and sang on Australian stages.

Chris Dave (l) – Isaiah Sharkey (m)

Jesse Johnson

Rocco Palladino

D'Angelo And The Vanguard concert Australia 2016

Bobby Sparks (r)

Jermaine Holmes

Red Middleton (l) – Chris Dave (m) – Isaiah Sharkey (r)

Looking Back

Was it the group’s set-list choices that left me wanting more? Maybe a little. In my world every song they played is a “Beloved Forever-After Song”. It’s true that all were arranged and delivered in funked-up, rocked-out, soulful brilliance. And hearing each one made me happy.

But a set made up of “Brown Sugar”; three/four jams on other artists’ songs, four/five songs from Voodoo (“Devil’s Pie”, “Chicken Grease”, “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”, “Left & Right”, “Feel Like Makin’ Love”); and only three from Black Messiah (“The Charade”, “Really Love”, “Back To The Future”/ “Sugah Daddy” at Bluesfest)…curiously felt like a look back to the distant (albeit magnificent) past.

Objectively the set choice might’ve been the safe bet when playing to Australian audiences made up of admirers from different D’Angelo eras. But for disciples who love every song he and his collaborators ever created, but appreciate the group’s artistry even more since the release of Black Messiah; and for newer disciples (including many young musicians there) because of Black Messiah, only hearing a small part of that album felt strange. Especially after they spent the past year promoting it through North America and Europe on The Second Coming Tour.

“Aint That Easy” – Black Messiah (2014)

“The Show”

Maybe my mysterious feeling was about being delivered a “show”. I guess when you reach the professional playing levels D’Angelo And The Vanguard have, with their intense tour schedule performing show after show in different cities, having a pre-formulated, programmed “show” for perfect and tight execution on cue by a lot of musicians and crew might be more necessary, or pragmatic, or safer.

But the flip-side to that is a loss of organic spontaneity – musically and otherwise. As an audience member I still crave that spontaneity no matter how incredible the show is. No matter how amusing it might be to see D’Angelo mimic kissing a woman “way down there”; or how much I like seeing he, Jesse Johnson and Isaiah Sharkey come together with their guitars in those moments. It makes me wonder if creative artists performing on stage also crave it at some point on their touring road.

Fourth, Final, Full Satisfaction

Whatever the mysterious, probably unreasonable thing that left me feeling not-quite-full after three incredible D’Angelo shows, it disappeared and mattered not once the the fourth and final Australian show happened on Saturday night at Byron B ay Bluesfest 2016.

D'Angelo concert - Bluesfest 2016, Australia

# 4 – Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016

Finally and inexplicably all seemed as it naturally should be at a D’Angelo gig. With everyone seemingly vibin’ on the experience, together. The set-list was nearly the same but as a Byron Bay sider might say: there was some indescribably-different type of musical and energetic magic that happened at Saturday’s closing show…leaving peeps there connected, loved-up and on high. It was created collectively by everyone there of course, hopefully felt by them too.

Everyone at Melbourne, Sydney and Bluesfest shows (and others around the world) had their very own experience of D’Angelo And The Vanguard live. Maybe it was nothing at all like mine. Surely it was special.

Leave a comment if you want to share yours – we wanna hear it!

Visit Beaver on the Beats on Facebook for more photos from these & other D’Angelo And The Vanguard shows; click a link for individual shows: London Roundhouse (2015) – Melbourne Soulfest 2014 – Brisbane Soulfest 2014; and check back here soon for Byron Bay Bluesfest’s dream main stage line-up with Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo, Kamasi Washington & West Coast Get Down and Hiatus Kaiyote.

Filed Under: D'Angelo, North America (USA) Tagged With: 2016, ain't that easy, australia, black messiah, bluesfest, byron bay, concert, d'angelo, live, melbourne, really love, sydney, tour, untitled, vanguard

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly: The Art Of Music In 2015

February 14, 2016 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

With each passing year of life the rarer it seems I hear new music that sounds truly fresh and innovative to me; new music that makes me feel excited about the art of music and its contemporary evolution. Lots of new albums were released in 2015. Only three spring to mind that gave me that excitement.

One was Hiatus Kaiyote’s Choose Your Weapon. The second was The Epic by Kamasi Washington.

Hiatus Kaiyote – Choose Your Weapon (2015)

Kamasi Washington – The Epic (2015)

Finally for 2015, the album that got me the most excited, was Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)

Knock yourself out reading and watching the countless reviews and opinions on To Pimp A Butterfly published throughout the world this past year. All that matters is this: The Compton rapper and dozens of his equally brilliant musical collaborators succeeded in sampling, revamping and creating anew the super-tastiest sounds of soul, jazz and funk wrapped in a hip hop masterpiece beyond compare in 2015. And if you haven’t already, get your hands on To Pimp A Butterfly in its most sublime format (vinyl of course) to hear and take pleasure in all its sonic intricacies for forever-after.

Folks who choose to buy their music digitally or take it for free; who don’t see the full album credits unless they go looking on-line and mightn’t know which artists created To Pimp A Butterfly’s 16 magnificent tracks other than Kendrick Lamar and listed “feature” artists…take the time to learn now. Their names matter. All of them are stunning contemporary artists in their own rights – and collectively they and Kendrick Duckworth Lamar made magic with To Pimp A Butterfly.

Kendrick Lamar feat. George Clinton & Thundercat – “Wesley’s Theory”

“Wesley’s Theory” written by Kendrick Duckworth, George Clinton, Steven Ellison, Ronald Colson, Stephen Bruner & Boris Gardiner; Produced by Flying Lotus & Ronald “Flippa” Colson; Additional Production by Sounwave & Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by MixedByAli; Horns & Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg; Background Vocals- Dr. Dre, Anna Wise, Ash Riser, Josef Leimberg & Whitney Alford. Contains elements of “Every Nigger Is a Star” by Boris Gardiner.

Kendrick Lamar – “You Aint Gotta Lie (Momma Said)”

“You Aint Gotta Lie (Momma Said)” written by Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin, Rose McKinney, Josef Leimberg & Mark Spears; Produced by LoveDragon; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, James “The White Black Man” Hunt & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Keyboards- Sounwave & Terrace Martin; Alto Saxophone/Vocoder- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg; Percussion- Larrance Dopson; Guitar- Marlon Williams; Background Vocals- Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, Preston Harris, Wyann Vaughn & JaVonte.

“For Free? (Interlude)”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin & Rose McKinney; Produced by Terrace Martin; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by MixedByAli; Drums- Robert Sput Searight; Piano- Robert Glasper; Bass- Brandon Owens; Organ- Craig Brockman; Guitar- Marlon Williams; Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Background Vocals- Anna Wise & Darlene Tibbs.

“King Kunta”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Johnny Burns, Michael Jackson, Ahmad Lewis, Stefan Gordy & D. Blake; Produced by Sounwave; Additional Production by Terrace Martin; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, James “The White Black Man” Hunt & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Bass- Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner; Additional Guitar- Marlon Williams & Matt Schaeffer; Background Vocals- Whitney Alford.

“King Kunta” contains: interpolations of “Get Nekkid” by Johnny Burns & D. Blake; resung lyrics from “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson; elements from “The Payback” by James Brown/Fred Wesley/J.Stark and from “We Want the Funk” by A. Lewis & S. Gordy.

“Institutionalized” feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Snoop Dogg

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Columbus Smith & Fredrik Halldin; Produced by Rahki & Fredrik “Tommy Black” Halldin; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by MixedByAli; Keyboards- Sam Barsh; Clarinet- Pedro Castro; Cello- Gabriel Noel; Violin- Paul Cartwright; Background Vocals- Taz Arnold a.k.a. Ti$a.

“These Walls” feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin, Larrance Dopson, James Fauntleroy & Rose McKinney; Produced by Terrace Martin & Larrance Dopson of 1500 or Nothin’; Additional Production by Sounwave; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by MixedByAli; Guitar- Marlon Williams & Gregory Moore; Keyboards- Robert Glasper, Larrance Dopson & Terrace Martin; Percussion- Larrance Dopson; Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg; Additional Bass- Thundercat.

“u”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Taz Arnold & Michael Brown; Produced by Taz Arnold a.k.a. Ti$a & WhoAreI; Additional Production by Sounwave; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Alto Saxophone/Keyboards- Terrace Martin; Tenor Saxophone- Kamasi Washington; Baritone Saxophone- Adam Turchin; Guitar- Marlon Williams; Background Vocals- Bilal, Jessica Vielmas & SZA.

“Alright”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Pharrell Williams & Mark Spears; Produced by Pharrell Williams & Sounwave; Recorded by James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali; Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Background Vocals- Pharrell Williams, Candace Wakefield & Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner.

“For Sale? (Interlude)”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth & Taz Arnold; Produced by Taz Arnold a.k.a. Ti$a; Additional Production by Sounwave & Terrace Martin; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali; Mixed by MixedByAli; Alto Saxophone/Keyboards- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg; Background Vocals- Bilal, Ti$a, Preston Harris & SZA.

“Momma”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Glen Boothe, Taz Arnold, Sylvester Stewart, Lalah Hathaway, Rahsaan Patterson & Rex Rideout; Produced by Knxwledge & Taz Arnold a.k.a. Ti$a; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by MixedByAli; Alto Saxophone/Keyboards/Vocoder- Terrace Martin; Background Vocals- Lalah Hathaway & Bilal.

“Momma” contains elements of “Wishful Thinkin” by S. Stewart as performed by Sly & The Family Stone, ”On Your Own” written by Lalah Hathaway, R. Patterson, & R. Rideout; samples from “On Your Own” performed by Lalah Hathaway, from the album Self Portrait.

“Hood Politics”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Donte Perkins, Mark Spears, Stephen Bruner & S. Stevens; Produced by Tae Beast, Sounwave & Thundercat; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & James “The White Black Man” Hunt; Mixed by MixedByAli; Keyboards- Terrace Martin & Robert Sput Searight; Background Vocals- Bilal, Anna Wise, Preston Harris & Dion Friley. “Hood Politics” includes sample of “All for Myself” (S. Stevens).

“How Much a Dollar Cost” feat. James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Terrace Martin, Josef Leimberg, Rose McKinney, James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley; Produced by LoveDragon; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, James “The White Black Man” Hunt & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Alto Saxophone/Keyboards- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg; Percussion- Larrance Dopson; Guitar- Marlon Williams; Ronald Isley’s verse recorded by Thomas Burns.

“Complexion (A Zulu Love)” feat. Rapsody

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Stephen Bruner, Mark Spears & Marlanna Evans; Produced by Thundercat & Sounwave; Additional Production- Terrace Martin & Antydote; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Keyboards- Terrace Martin & Robert Glasper; Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg; Percussion- Larrance Dopson; Background Vocals- Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, Lalah Hathaway, Talkbox Monte & JaVonte; Background Vocals/Scratches- Pete Rock; Rapsody’s verse recorded by 9th Wonder.

“The Blacker the Berry”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Matthew Samuels, Stephen Kozmeniuk, Ken Lewis, Brent Kolatalo, Jefferey Campbell, Alexander Izquierdo & Zale Epstein; Produced by Boi-1da & Koz; Additional Production- Terrace Martin; Additional Drum Programming & Additional Engineering- Katalyst; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, James “The White Black Man” Hunt & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Drums- Ronald Bruner Jr; Keyboards- Robert Glasper; Bass- Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner; Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Percussion- Larrance Dopson; Background Vocals- Lalah Hathaway.

“i”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Columbus Smith, Ronald Isley, O’Kelly Isley, Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Rudolph Isley & Christopher Jasper; Produced by Rahki; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, James “The White Black Man” Hunt & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Mix Assistants- The White Black Man & Matt Schaeffer; Keyboards- Sam Barsh; Guitar- Keith Askey; Drums- Kendall Lewis; Bass- Chris Smith & Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner; Percussion- Rahki; Background Vocals- Taz Arnold a.k.a. Ti$a, William Swept, Candace Wakefield, Devon Downing, Edwin Orellana, Dave Free & Dion Friley; Additional Vocals- Ronald Isley, recorded by Thomas Burns. “i” contains portions of “That Lady” by Ronald Isley, Christopher Jasper, O’Kelly Isley, Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley & Rudolph Isley.

“Mortal Man”

Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Stephen Bruner & F. Anikulapo; Produced by Sounwave; Recorded by Derek “MixedByAli” Ali, James “The White Black Man” Hunt & Matt Schaeffer; Mixed by MixedByAli; Bass- Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner; Keyboards- Robert Glasper & Junius Bervine; Guitar- Marlon Williams; Alto Saxophone- Terrace Martin; Trumpet- Josef Leimberg & Ambrose Akinmusire; Background vocals- James Fauntleroy & JaVonte; String Arrangements by Kamasi Washington, Sounwave & Terrace Martin.

“Mortal Man” contains: elements of “I No Get Eye for Back” by F. Anikulapo and excerpts from “I No Get Eye for Back” as performed by Houston Person; features parts from the music journalist Mats Nileskar’s 2Pac Shakur interview in New York, November 1994.

Filed Under: Kendrick Lamar, North America (USA) Tagged With: george clinton, kendrick duckworth, kendrick lamar, thundercat, to pimp a butterfly, wesley's theory, you ain't gotta lie

Flying Lotus – You’re Dead! But Your Spirit Ain’t

October 19, 2014 by Beaver on the Beats 1 Comment

“The first time you listen to You’re Dead! try to clear 30+ min of your super busy and important schedule and listen to the whole ride…”

Flying Lotus- Sep 19

Flying Lotus (aka Steven Elllison) posted that about 2 weeks before the official release of his new album.

Two weeks afterYou’re Dead! arrived into my hands I’m posting this to all people in the world who appreciate absolutely unique, innovative and exceptional music and artistry, and are as excited as me about the creation of jazz hip-hop fusion of the highest order in 2014…

“The first and every subsequent time you listen to You’re Dead! during the rest of this lifetime, clear 38+ mins of your busy, unimportant schedule, play your vinyl or cd through a good sound system, and enjoy the wild sensory ride that this incredible musical body of work takes you on in it’s entirety from tracks 1 through to 19…”

Flying Lotus – You’re Dead! (2014)

This Flying Lotus ride takes us into the realms of death and the journey of the spirit in the afterlife. The message is clear: scary or not, death in this lifetime is coming for us all. But the spirit will live on forever after.

At different times throughout the album death is confusing, resisted, feared, wondered or laughed at, welcomed, defied, sought, accepted, surrendered to and embraced. That means sometimes this Flying Lotus ride sounds fun and playful, at other times uncomfortable, dark and chaotic.

“I can see the darkness in me and it’s quite amazing. Life and death is a mystery and I wanna taste it. Step inside my mind and you’ll find curiosity…”

(Kendrick Lamar on ‘Never Catch Me’)

“Bang bang blow your mind. Beat beat flatline. You gotta get yours, I been had mine…”

“I was live when I met you. Now it seems to upset you.”

Snoop Dogg and Captain Murphy (aka Flying Lotus) on ‘Dead Man’s Tetris’

“The days of men are coming to an end. So come with me…”

Flying Lotus on ‘Coronus The Terminator’

“Can you feel the walls are closing in? Closer to the end. Welcome to the descent. The descent, the descent, into madness. The descent…”

Thundercat on ‘Descent Into Madness’

“I know of a place inside my mind where I can fly. Take another pill. Take another pill.”

Captain Murphy on ‘The Boys Who Died In Their Sleep’

Other times the ride is soft, spacious, clear and serene. One of those is in ‘The Protest’. This track marks the end of You’re Dead! and the start of the spirits’ journey through the afterlife when they gather in clarity, a knowing, an acceptance of (and hopefully in peace) that they, their influence and their love will live on forever and ever after.

The whole wild sensory ride comes via a rich and diverse musical tapestry made up of layers upon layers of weird, wonderful and surprising sounds that very few artists in the world could successfully weave together like Flying Lotus has done with You’re Dead!. You’ll need to set aside a lot of 38+ minute sessions during your lifetime just to absorb them all.

Some layers are vocal ones inspired by the music of Queen, sung or spoken by Steven Ellison himself (some through a toy), Niki Randa, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Angel Deradoorian, Arlene Deradoorian and Kimbra Johnson.

Others are recordings of shit-hot live instrumentation care of jazz hero Herbie Hancock on keys; Thundercat on bass and guitar, Kamasi Washington on saxophone; Brendon Small and Jeff Lynn on guitar; Gene Coye, Justin Brown, Ronald Bruner and Deantoni Parks on drums; Stephen Bruner, Brandon Coleman and Taylor Graves on keys; Laura Darlington on flute; Andres Renteria on percussion; Miguel Atwood Ferguson and Taylor Cannizzaro on strings, and Flying Lotus on keys, percussion and bass.

Finally amongst the layers are the electronic beats and other kooky sampled sounds of Flying Lotus, many of them seemingly placed in the “wrong” but in fact the perfect places.

The whole of those layers is an exceptional, innovative, quality musical creation that sounds and feels like none other in this world.

Check out some tracks from the album here via dirty, compressed mp3. My usual preachings about the importance of supporting artists financially and the evils of mp3s in the world, apply many times over with this here Flying Lotus album and it’s many beautiful nuances of sound. You’re Dead! is a ‘must-have-and-treasure-on-vinyl-or-at-least-cd’ in your collection for the rest of your lifetime, and the collection of the lucky person who gets your music collection with FlyLo included, after you’re dead. Get it from your local independent record store if you can – all good ones should have it.

Flying Lotus – You’re Dead! (2014)

Flying Lotus – ‘Dead Man’s Tetris’ (feat. Snoop Dogg & Captain Murphy)

a playful Tetris death ride, hip-hop style…

Flying Lotus – ‘Coronus The Terminator’

what I hope death sounds and feels like…

Flying Lotus – ‘Moment of Hesitation’ (feat. Herbie Hancock)

aaahhh, dear Herbie…

If when I get to the afterlife it turns out to sound like You’re Dead! does, at least my spirit will be a musically satisfied one. Won’t yours?

If it sounds different, this Flying Lotus creation has undoubtedly made a lot of people’s lives richer for the experience in this lifetime. Are you one of them?

Filed Under: Flying Lotus, North America (USA) Tagged With: coronus the terminator, dead mans tetris, flying lotus, herbie hancock, moment of hesitation, snoop dogg, steven ellison, you're dead

Ten Albums of 2016 That Made Life Sweeter

January 9, 2017 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Blessed we are for the music albums of 2016 that made this life feel a whole lot sweeter. Thankful are we to the artists who created those albums. Some, like Kendrick Lamar’s untitled unmastered, came quickly after his last and were released unexpectedly. Other albums like De La Soul’s and the Anonymous Nobody, and The Diary Of from dearly-departed legend J Dilla, were an insanely-long time in coming.

Below are sample tracks from ten albums of 2016 that likely brought happiness to lovers of jazz, hip hop, R&B and reggae music. All can be found in hard copy and added to your Forever-After Music Collection if you haven’t already done so- including in their most supreme format, on sweet sweet vinyl.

1. Anderson .Paak- Malibu

“Heart Don’t Stand A Chance”

2. BADBADNOTGOOD- IV

“And That, Too”

Hear more tracks from IV and watch video footage of BADBADNOTGOOD performing live here.

3. De La Soul- and the Anonymous Nobody

“Drawn” featuring Little Dragon

Find more tracks from and the Anonymous Nobody here.

4. J Dilla- The Diary Of

“The Ex” featuring Bilal

5. Kaytranada- 99.9%

“Breakdance Lesson N.1”

6. Kendrick Lamar- untitled unmastered

“untitled 08 09.06.2014”

Check out live concert footage of Kendrick Lamar performing at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016 here.

7. Michael Kiwanuka- Love And Hate

“Cold Little Heart”

Find more tracks from Love & Hate here.

8. Miles Davis and Robert Glasper- Everything’s Beautiful

“Right On Brotha” featuring Stevie Wonder

Find more tracks from Everything’s Beautiful here.

9. NxWorries- Yes Lawd!

“Khadijah”

10. Stephen “Ragga” Marley– Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit Of Life

“Scars On My Feet” featuring Waka Flocka

Find more tracks from Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit Of Life here.

~~~~~~~~

Blessed will we continue to be in 2017 for the existence of those ten albums in our music collections – as well as all new musical delights coming our way this year. Thanks to all artists worldwide who create, record and play music for us live. Life could be unbearable without them, and hopefully we never have to find out.

Kendrick Lamar live at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016

Filed Under: Anderson Paak, Badbadnotgood, De La Soul, J Dilla, Kaytranada, Kendrick Lamar, Michael Kiwanuka, Miles Davis, NxWorries, Robert Glasper, Stephen Marley Tagged With: 2016, 99.9%, albums, anderson paak, anonymous nobody, badbadnotgood, de la soul, diary of, everythings beautiful, fruit of life, iv, j dilla, kaytranada, kendrick lamar, Knxwledge, malibu, michael kiwanuka, Miles Davis, nxworries, robert glasper, stephen marley, stevie wonder, untitled unmastered, yes lawd

Search Results for: kamasi washington

Kamasi Washington – “Change of the Guard” – The Epic (Volume 1 – The Plan)

Young Lion – Miles Mosley

Fire – Miles Mosley

Choices Choices Choices

In The Summer Time

Plan To Be Gluttonous

Cross Its Boroughs

Venues Matter

The Seasoned and The Fresh

It’s Your Thing by The Isley Brothers

4 Am by Taylor McFerrin – Early Riser

Party Picks

Inbox Full

“The Music Capital of the World”

Show You The Way – Thundercat featuring Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins

Walk On By – Thundercat featuring Kendrick Lamar

x Kendrick Lamar – untitled 02 | 06.23.2014 – untitled unmastered (2016)

Bluesfest Appreciation

D’Angelo, Every Time

The [mini] Vanguard

Looking Back

“The Show”

Fourth, Final, Full Satisfaction

Kendrick Lamar feat. George Clinton & Thundercat – “Wesley’s Theory”

Kendrick Lamar – “You Aint Gotta Lie (Momma Said)”

Flying Lotus – ‘Dead Man’s Tetris’ (feat. Snoop Dogg & Captain Murphy)

Flying Lotus – ‘Coronus The Terminator’

Flying Lotus – ‘Moment of Hesitation’ (feat. Herbie Hancock)

1. Anderson .Paak- Malibu

2. BADBADNOTGOOD- IV

3. De La Soul- and the Anonymous Nobody

4. J Dilla- The Diary Of

5. Kaytranada- 99.9%

6. Kendrick Lamar- untitled unmastered

7. Michael Kiwanuka- Love And Hate

8. Miles Davis and Robert Glasper- Everything’s Beautiful

9. NxWorries- Yes Lawd!

10. Stephen “Ragga” Marley– Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit Of Life

music sublime

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x
Kendrick Lamar – untitled 02 | 06.23.2014 – untitled unmastered (2016)

Music Lives