Aotearoa (New Zealand) Music Artists

H Is For Hip Hop And Its Queens

February 5, 2017 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

H in the A to Z of fusion goes to Hip Hop music – leaving aside here the other core elements that make up hip hop culture.

Hip Hop earns its place because its creation definitely involves the refined art of fusion. From DJs mixing records they spin to studio producers/beat makers sampling, chopping, looping, sequencing, recording and mixing- the beats, sounds and grooves that make up hip hop music are found and blended together from a broad range of worldwide music sources including funk, soul, rhythm and blues, disco, jazz, rock, heavy metal, reggae, salsa, cumbia, soca, pop and well, any other genre you choose really.

The evolution of hip hop music is long and involved. Its characters and contributors are many. Its history fills pages you can find elsewhere. Sufficed to say here its original roots are found in Africa and since its formation in New York in the 70’s the hip hop phenomena has spread far and wide throughout the world. Erykah Badu perfectly describes its contemporary influence in ‘The Healer’ when she sings “It’s bigger than religion, hip hop. It’s bigger than my nigga, hip hop. It’s bigger than the government”. And thankfully so.

Erykah Badu live at Bluesfest

“The Healer” by Erykah Badu – New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War)

It’s the hip hop Kings of the world who’ve generally been the most heard and celebrated. Check out “essential hip hop” albums to find most are compilations of tracks by male artists. But of course there are female artists all over the world creating hip hop music whether they be DJ’s, MCs, beat makers or producers. Sampled below are songs featuring just a handful of those many hip hop Queens – some widely known and celebrated, others less so.

Nneka live at Eutropia Festival

The usual warning applies: versions you find here are just dirty, compressed mp3s. Get the real deal on hard copy from your local music store, in their sweetest of forms on vinyl.

Erykah Badu (U.S.A)

“Love Of My Life Worldwide” featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone & Bahamadia – Worldwide Underground

Fugees (inc. Ms Lauryn Hill) (U.S.A)

“Some Seek Stardom” – Blunted on Reality

ChocQuibTown (Colombia)

“Somos Pacifico” – Somos Pacifico

Georgia Anne Muldrow (U.S.A)

“Monoculture” – A Thoughtiverse Unmarred

Ladi6 (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

“Give Me The Light” – Time Is Not Much

Nneka (Nigeria/Germany)

“Halfcast” – No Longer At Ease

Telmary (Cuba)

“Ando” – A Diario

Yep, blessed are we for the birth of hip hop music and its ongoing fusionary evolution since by artists all over the world. Thankful are we for both its Queens and its Kings.

: Black Milk

: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)

: Common

: Roots Manuva

Filed Under: An A-Z of Worldwide Fusion Music Genres, ChocQuibTown, Erykah Badu, Fusion Beaver Style, Fusion Music, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ladi6, Lauryn Hill, Nneka Tagged With: chocquibtown, erykah badu, female artists, fugees, fusion, georgia anne muldrow, hip hop, ladi6, Lauryn Hill, music, nneka, telmary, women of hip hop

Aaradhna – Brown Girl

August 14, 2016 by Beaver on the Beats

The new album from New Zealand’s young soul diva Aaradhna, Brown Girl, is another wonderful opportunity to acquaint yourself with the uniquely-flavoured sounds of the South Pacific.

Aaradhna – Brown Girl (2016)

Musically this album gives you a diverse fusion of flavours from smooth, smokin’ R&B to a hint of island skank and some cruisy country vibes. It’s simply the sound of Aaradhna; an expression of all her many influences from a Samoan/Indian ancestry – to an upbringing on the islands of Aotearoa New Zealand with its incredible natural and cultural landscape like no other in the world, and its many contemporary music artists fusing the sounds of soul/jazz/hip hop/reggae – whilst Aaradhna herself was listening to and taking note of the sublime music masters and mistresses of old.

Love and heartache are prominent lyrical themes on Brown Girl. Fundamentally so too are the experiences of prejudice, inequality and discrimination humans inflict upon each other for a range of crazy reasons, including the colour of one’s skin. Hopefully one day we’ll evolve to a place where artists like Aaradhna have no need to write lyrics like this. We should already be there. But for some reason completely incomprehensible to me we’re still so far away – with song lyrics like “Brown Girl” highly relevant the world over. Here you can read Aaradhna’s own words about the album and the meaning of its title track.

Leaving aside the album’s lyrical content, musical flavours and high class production by Brooklyn’s Truth & Soul Records, Brown Girl is worth its weight in gold alone for the experience of feeling Aaradhna’s stunning voice hit you where you want it to over and over again. Each and every word she sings on this album is oozing with raw and honest emotion. Unfailingly I believe her, and empathise.

Check out two sample tracks from Brown Girl here. If you like what you hear you should of course gift yourself an uncompressed hard-copy of the album. That way you can also get to know and appreciate the names of the many talented musicians who helped Aaradhna in the studio to create this music.

Brown Girl (2016)

Aaradhna – “brown girl”

Aaradhna – “devil’s living in my shadow”

I can’t say from experience, yet, but I’m guessing Aaradhna is a vocalist most sublimely experienced live. Keep an eye out for an upcoming show near you.

Filed Under: Aaradhna, Aotearoa (New Zealand) Tagged With: aaradhna, brown girl, devil's living in my shadow, music, new zealand, r&b, welcome to the jungle

Fat Freddys Drop – Beyond Easy Skanking

November 8, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Every album so far delivered by Fat Freddys Drop has brilliantly captured and showcased the unique blends of soul, jazz, funk, R&B, reggae and dub that New Zealand music is known and loved for. Those albums have also captured the spirit and sounds of the epic live Fat Freddys Drop journeys – from which the group built their grass-roots following and ultimate success, way back since their beginnings in the late 90s.

Fat Freddys Drop live in Brisbane - Blackbird Tour 2013

Fat Freddys Drop live at the Tivoli, Australia

In many ways the new album Bays repeats that Fat Freddys history, in others not.

Bays (2015)

More so than ever before, Bays captures Fat Freddys Drop creating music in the studio rather than in the live arena. Like always, studio-style includes recording equipment and techniques at their most superior (analogue of course), pressed to sweet vinyl. The gentle, soulful voice of Dallas Tamaira is the only one you’ll find on this FFD album, consistently soothing you throughout. The subtle, perfectly-placed horn lines of Toby Laing, Joe Lindsay and Scott Towers are still present. So too are the living guitar and keyboard sounds of Tehimana Kerr and Iain Gordon.

And yes Bays definitely delivers familiar doses of soul, funk, R&B and feel-good, easy skanking within its ten tracks. But this time around you’ll get a heavier-than-ever-before dose of techno rhythms in the mix. For some people those sounds will be welcome, for others they might bring discomfort. Either way, Fat Freddys Drop remain as true as always to the expression of their own evolution, independent of and unconstrained by the expectations of a label or others.

Love Bays or not. Take it or leave it. Whatever you do, at least try it.

I tried and took – ie. went to my local record store and bought it for my Forever-After Collection. And super-surprisingly, it was the epic techno-heavy journey of track 8 on Bays (“Cortina Motors”) that finally convinced me to do so. Producer and MPC genius Chris “Mu” Faiumu (who donated the base track) and the rest of Fat Freddys Drop have here achieved the unthinkable for me: made the experience of listening to techno rhythms an enjoyable and body-moving one.

Fat Freddys Drop concert - WOMADelaide 2014

Mu with Fat Freddys Drop live at WOMADelaide 2014

The killer groove of the album’s ninth and final track “Novak”, cemented my decision without doubt that I’d be a lot poorer if I didn’t have Bays in my music collection.

Check out these (mp3 only) samples of those two all-convincing tracks.

Fat Freddys Drop – “Cortina Motors” – Bays

x

Fat Freddys Drop – “Novak” – Bays

x

Buy the whole of Bays direct from Fat Freddys Drop here.

And be sure to find the live experience where you can. That’s generally where the most Fat Freddys Drop magic happens. Peeps around the world get their chance soon with upcoming tours happening in Aotearoa / New Zealand, Australia, the U.K. and Europe.

Filed Under: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Fat Freddys Drop Tagged With: bays, cortina motors, fat freddys drop, ffd, music, new album, new zealand, novak

Beauty by Wallace

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

When female soul, blues and jazz artist Wallace recently released her debut single Vinyl Skip, I wanted to hear more of the music and vocals this young artist had in store for us.

Wallace

Wallace Gollan’s EP is not here yet, but her second single is: Beauty.

Beauty features Sydney’s female rapper Sampa The Great, and has a lyrical message we could all benefit from hearing again and again: finding internal strength and inspiration, learning and growing from experiences good and bad, finding beauty wherever you are and pursuing your passions.

I still want to hear more from Wallace and the whole body of musical work she’s creating for us- as always, in hard copy when it comes. Waiting patiently…

You can check out the new single Beauty here in the meantime…

Filed Under: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Wallace Tagged With: beauty, music, sampa, sampa the great, soul, vinyl skip, wallace, wallace gollan

Future-Soul Artist Wallace Releases ‘Vinyl Skip’

May 3, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

New Zealand Music Month has just begun. About the same time last week Beaver was praising the unique sounds of music coming out of Aotearoa (New Zealand) in recent decades – a promising, young New Zealand-born “future soul” artist named Wallace was digitally-releasing her debut single Vinyl Skip.

Wallace Gollan is a jazz-trained singer/songwriter who cites NGAIIRE, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Hiatus Kaiyote and Little Dragon amongst her influences. So then, what we know about this artist already is that her musical roots are grounded in goodness.

Next we can conjure up beautiful imagery from this Vinyl Skip story Wallace shares:

“Vinyl Skip came about after I misheard a rap by Common. He’s talking about life and says “let’s spend it slow forever”. I thought he’d said “Let’s spin it slow forever” and got this image of two people dancing to a record spinning too slow but not caring cause it meant they could dance for longer and get lost in the moment.”

Photo by Matthew Predny

Hear the sounds of Vinyl Skip…

And wait patiently for the release of Wallace’s forthcoming EP to better get to know the sounds of this emerging female artist (for now you can only buy the digital single).

Until then, look out for the chance to experience hearing Wallace’s stunning voice live. She’s now Sydney-based so folks in Australia are more likely to get theirs sooner than the rest of the world.

Filed Under: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Wallace Tagged With: australia, debut, new zealand, single, sydney, vinyl skip, wallace, wallace gollan, wellington

Myele Manzanza: New Zealand Music Aesthetics

April 27, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Except for the reformation of Trinity Roots and what a handful of other New Zealand music artists like Myele Manzanza, Fat Freddys Drop, Electric Wire Hustle and Ladi 6 are up to, these days I’m more out of touch with New Zealand’s music scene than I used to be.

Trinity Roots live concert Australia 2015

Trinity Roots: Citizen Tour 2015

The Sound

When I was on the pulse during the past decade and more, I always thought Aotearoa (New Zealand) was a musical gem undiscovered (to their loss) by most of the world beyond Australia.

For small South Pacific islands distant from so much of the world, there seemed to be a disproportionately high number of New Zealand music artists blending flavours of soul, jazz, reggae and beats to create chilled, spacious, smooth, feel-right music with an inexplicably distinctive (and unique) New Zealand sound. I couldn’t work it out except to guess that its stunningly dominant natural environment played some part.

Myele Manzanza on The Sounds

During my recent interview with “afro-elastic soul” artist Myele Manzanza, I asked him about that sound; and to share any home-grown insights into the evolution of New Zealand music throughout his lifetime – which included years of drumming and composing with Electric Wire Hustle and working on numerous solo and collaborative projects with fellow New Zealand (and international) artists.

Check out Myele’s response with sample sounds from some of the players in that musical evolution…

Myele Manzanza: .

x.x

“New Zealand music out to a wider world audience”

“I think as far as the era of New Zealand music you’re referring to, in order for that to happen, I guess the thing that really broke down the door was Fat Freddys Drop – as far as getting New Zealand music out to a wider world audience. I have to take my hat off to them because of what they did and the level they did it at. I don’t think anyone of that era has gotten to the level of where Fat Freddys Drop got to.

Fat Freddys Drop

“a new vanguard”

You could maybe throw in Lorde, who’s stupendously big. She’s of a new vanguard/league/generation. Her success is incredible. There must be some element of influence of what’s happened in New Zealand music over the past 10 years on what Lorde does, but I don’t really bring her into this era of New Zealand music that you’re referring to. Even though it’s beats and soul, its a different thing.

“that sound”

As far as to how Ladi 6, Electric Wire Hustle or Fat Freddys Drop got here and got to that sound…when I was 14 or 15, Trinity Roots and The Black Seeds were coming to prominence (Trinity Roots reached their peak and then disbanded for some time). The Black Seeds and Fat Freddys Drop were still on their scent, but were in the community so I kind of grew up around that sound.

It might also trace back to Che Fu – he had a very big impact.

Trinity Roots

Trinity Roots- ‘Egos’ – Home, Land and Sea (2004)

Fat Freddys Drop- ‘Roady (feat. Ladi 6 & P Digsss)’ – Based On A True Story (2005)

Ladi 6- ‘Walk Right Up’ – Time Is Not Much (2008)

Che Fu- ‘Fade-Away’ – Navigator (2002)

“Once Bob Marley hit…”

There’s obviously a very big reggae thing in New Zealand.

Once Bob Marley hit, and I think he performed in New Zealand in the early 80‘s [1979], that was a big cultural turning point; a. because his influence was so big anyway, but; b. when he came and performed he really got to know the local culture. I think there was a connection for him too because Waitangi Day (the day a treaty of agreement was signed between Maoris and the colonial population) is on 6 February which also happened to be Bob Marley’s birthday.

For whatever reason, and particular Maori and Pacific Island culture in New Zealand, people were very much drawn to Bob Marley, his message and his sound.

Maybe there’s an ‘island thing’ too where the geography relates to the style. There’s something that can be related there and got taken up. There’s a reggae thing that’s been happening in New Zealand music for decades now. Trinity Roots and Fat Freddys Drop came out of that but they also had their jazz, soul, electro, dub and techno influences.

“the J Dilla-thing in New Zealand music”

It might be fair to say that whilst Electric Wire Hustle had those same influences, [we] were maybe the first to champion the J Dilla-thing in New Zealand music; that rhythmic aesthetic; that sound and style of contemporary left-field hip-hop/soul instrumentals. We latched onto that, and it might have given us a point of difference. Ladi 6 was in there as well. So were a number of other artists. Isaac Aesili – part of a group now called Sorceress (previously called Funkommunity) was very much in that scene.

It’s interesting thinking about that timeline and the history of that – and will be interesting to see what happens next.

Electric Wire Hustle- ‘This World (Feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow)’ – Electric Wire Hustle (2009)

“what happens next”

Obviously Lorde is the now. It’s undeniable that whatever will come after Lorde in mainstream New Zealand music will be largely influenced by her.

But for me I think my next step is maybe taking those influences but maybe going further into the jazz thing. By “jazz” I mean improvised music that’s fluid and can move and shift as performed in the moment in real time, as opposed to pre-programmed drum machine stuff.

Myele Manzanza- ‘Elvin’s Brew’ – One (2013)

Even though that’s very much a big part of what I do, what I think I’ll be working on over the next few years of my life will be a synthesis of that – finding my line between the programmed electronic-thing and the improvised jazz/soul, real person, real time-thing and trying to make that my sound.

As far as where the rest of New Zealand music is headed, only time will tell.”

~~~~~~~~

More of The Sound

Start here if you want to check out more sounds and images of Myele Manzanza, The Eclectic and other Aotearoa New Zealand artists:

Myele Manzanza & The Eclectic (including father Sam Manzanza and Aotearoan soul divas Rachel Fraser & Lisa Tomlins) performing live at WOMADelaide 2015 last month…

…or click the artist’s name for more live videos, photos and sample tracks by Myele Manzanza, Trinity Roots, Fat Freddys Drop and Electric Wire Hustle.

…and stay tuned, because there’ll always be more New Zealand music artists added to Beaver’s world.

Filed Under: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Electric Wire Hustle, Fat Freddys Drop, Myele Manzanza, Trinity Roots Tagged With: bob marley, electric wire hustle, fat freddys drop, interview, ladi 6, myele manzanza, new zealand, new zealand music, the eclectic, Trinity Roots

Bluesfest 2015 – Nothing But The Euphoric Funk

April 13, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Five festival days of performances by 89 international and Australian acts at Byron Bay Bluesfes t ended for me with three hours at the main stage frontline having what felt like the most euphoric live music experience of my lifetime.

I was, of course, in the company of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

George Clinton at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

With the greatest of respect to all other performing artists and the Funk Disclaimer below, everything that came before Parliament Funkadelic at Bluesfest 2015 mattered little to me after the P Funk family arrived on stage – and by the end of their gloriously epic set, even less.

Bluesfest Before The Funk

Up until that spiritual Parliament Funkadelic experience, my Bluesfest time had been challenging.

Lenny Kravitz had cancelled and there weren’t many programmed acts left for my own personal musical tastes – and, so many of the 2015 artists were Bluesfest frequent flyers. An unfounded festival greeting by a police sniffer dog didn’t help. Nor did ugly behaviours I saw by some of my fellow festival-goers. Then there was that disappointing Bluesfester who found my camera with its images and sounds so precious to me, and decided not to return it. And amongst all of that I just wasn’t as successful as others in not letting the rain and its resulting inches-deep, stinky mud slush get me down.

Beyond the negative…moving on to accentuate the pre Parliament Funkadelic positive 🙂 …Bluesfest 2015 had some acts that motivated me back through its gates to experience the goodness of their shows.

Jurassic Five and the awesomely-funky sounds of hip hop created by DJs Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark alongside four stellar emcees (Chali 2na + Akil + Marc 7 + Zaakir aka Soup) who might “sound like one” in unison but individually have their own unique melody and tone which makes your body move in delightfully different ways.

Gary Clark Jr – an absolute monster on guitar whose sounds reminded me of how good the blues can be and how important it is to the past, present and future of music of so many kinds.

Fly My Pretties – a talented collective of independent artists coming together again in the live arena to represent the distinctive sounds of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Jimmy Cliff with his astounding level of positive energy and delightful showmanship so many Bluesfests later – and his super-tight Jamaican band.

Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires – akin to a placid James Brown bringing the sounds of funk and soul to the stage.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue who bought his feel-good mix of jazz, funk & hip hop from the lands of New Orleans to get down to in Byron Bay, yet again.

You can check out Trombone Shorty’s take on funk with this here sample track from his album Say That To Say This….

Trombone Shorty - Say That To Say This album cover

Say That To Say This (2013)

‘Get The Picture’ – Trombone Shorty – Say That To Say This

Paolo Nutini…whose musical style may not be up my personal alley of taste, but who impressed me nonetheless with his engaging live performance.

Rodrigo y Gabriela and the way just two people and the stunning sounds of their guitars can so easily fill the space of an entire main festival stage.

No doubt the 100,000+ folks who passed through Bluesfest gates over its five days with leanings towards different musical flavours to me, had lots more of their own experiences of musical goodness.

All my Bluesfest 2015 experiences both good and challenging, washed away in euphoria within minutes of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic arriving on stage to close the festival’s main stage. Some might say that’s a travesty to Bluesfest and its artists to say so, but I do so through the eyes and ears of a long-time devoted Funkateer.

Funk Disclaimer

Funk music has brought me more listening and dancing joy during my lifetime than any other musical style in history. That’s a pretty profound contribution to have made to my wellbeing – one which I am eternally grateful for.

George Clinton and the many incredible musicians, vocalists and visionaries who have flown on the Parliament/Funkadelic/P-Funk mothership throughout its many different historical incarnations have been at the front, centre and side of funk music since the 60’s.

They’ve constantly reinvented themselves and their music to keep it alive in a changing world, musical landscape and life circumstances. George Clinton tells it that all along the way, people in the music industry have repeatedly screwed he and other artists out of royalties and tried to squeeze them down or out.

So to witness and hear George Clinton (at almost 75 years old) on stage in 2015 alongside other P-Funk legends – still keepin’ the funk alive and fresh – and performing it so energetically and brilliantly for three epic hours, was a super special, blessed thing.

Amongst those old-school P-Funkers by his side were Robert PNut Johnson (in the P-Funk family since 1976), Michael Clip Payne (since 1977), DeWayne Blackbyrd McKnight, Steve Boyd and Lige Curry (since 1978) plus Bennie Cowan, Greg Thomas and Ricky Rouse (since “a very long time” ago).

P Nut Johnson - Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Robert P-Nut Johnson

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic live concert- Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015 - Australia

Michael Clip Payne (r)

Blackbyrd McKnight

Steve Boyd

Lige Curry (r)

Bennie Cowan

Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Greg Thomas

Ricky Rouse

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic Made Me Do It

The priceless value of George Clinton & co.’s music in my life and to the world of music generally, was more than enough inspiration to make me do things I’ve never done before to take full advantage of the Parliament Funkadelic blessing before me at Bluesfest.

The first was lining up for a George Clinton signing before the show – not to get his name on anything – but simply for the chance to thank him for the profound musical gifts he’s given.

The next out-of-character mission was maneuvering my way to the Parliament Funkadelic frontline (in dangerous sound-quality territory) long before their set so I could witness the brilliant chops of each and every one of those artists up close.

Parliament Funkadelic live concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015 - Australia

Ricky Rouse and Blackbyrd McKnight

Bluesfest During The Funk

It was there on the Mojo stage frontline at 8.30 pm that all the funk stars aligned and I found myself directly in front of the mothership collective, surrounded by a posse of multi-generational, devoted Funkateer strangers-became-funk-bonded-friends. For the next 3 euphoric hours we watched and listened in awe, danced, and screamed in appreciation whenever asked, for the super-tight live funk delivered by George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

On a different day or place I know that live P-Funk explosion could have been even bigger than it was at Bluesfest.

Long-time musical heroes were joined on stage by a new generation of P-Funk stars who have their own independent music projects going on: Danny Bedrosian – Thurteen – (Garry Starchild Shider’s son) Garrett Shider and George Clinton’s grandkids Tracey “Tra’zae” Lewis-Clinton, Patavian Lewis and Tonysha Nelson.

Their presence gives me hope that the funk really can survive long into the future “like it always has” – thanks muchly to George Clinton and so many other artists in the P-Funk family passed and living.

Tra' Zae - Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Tra’zae Clinton

Tonysha Nelson - Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Tonysha Nelson (c) + Danny Bedrosian + Garrett Shider

Thurteen (l)

Kandy Apple Redd - George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Tonysha Nelson + Patavian Lewis

Garrett Shider

Those on stage with George Clinton took their turns to shine – so often at the behest or encouragement of Dr Funkenstein – and unfailingly with his support and appreciation.

: Parliament Funkadelic

Most P-Funk stars were on stage shining consistently for the whole epic set – including the superb drumming delivered by human funk machine Benzel Baltimore Cowan.

Benzel Baltimore - Parliament Funkadelic concert - Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015

Benzel Baltimore Cowan

We got tasty funkin’ jams and solos, beloved songs of all ages from the vast Parliament/Funkadelic/P Funk discography. as well as new ones showcasing music of the younger P-Funk members like female duo Kandy Apple Redd.

Patavian Lewis

Tonysha Nelson

Carlos McMurray was amongst those youngsters on board the mothership, bringing to life the irreverent but beloved P-Funk character Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk.

At the end of those three euphoric hours, the final uncharacteristic thing George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic made me do when I realised the experience was really, truly over and the mothership crew had flown away (maybe never to return) – was to shed a tear. Dramatic yes? But a true story of the profound goodness of funk music in this life!

Then I moved on to simply be grateful for my music blessing, and relish in the buzz I felt in every cell of my body for as many days as it lasted.

For its shockingly-bad sound quality, I’m loathe to include this video footage from my guardian angel/bodyguard friend behind me at the show protecting my P-Funk dance space, but, dedicated Funkateers might find some goodness in the imagery at least…

“The Mothership Will Fly Just Like It Always Does”

Thanks to the live experience of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic at Byron Bay Bluesfest, it was five days before I could bring myself to listen to any music at all – for fear it might taint that euphoric feeling I so desperately wanted to hold onto.

To try and comfort myself about the mothership’s departure – and renew my hope that funk music truly will survive into the future, all I could finally turn to was this here George Clinton and The P Funk All Stars song from their seminal 1996 reunion album T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. Its lyrics affirmed the survival of funk then and always, and funk do I hope that the words remain true into our musical future.

George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars - TAPOAFOM

T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (1996)

‘T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (Fly Away)’ – George Clinton & The P Funk All Stars – T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M.

At Bluesfest I got to thanks George Clinton personally for the crazy-amazing music he’s gifted the world over five decades. I suppose a benefit of cyber-Beavering is that I can put out here the same deep-felt thanks and appreciation to every other Parliament Funkadelic member past and present – and hope that they or their family might receive those thanks.

Blackbyrd McKnight (c)

Finally in this long Beaver funk story, thanks has to go to Bluesfest for bringing George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (+88 other acts) back to perform on its stages in 2015.

Greg Thomas

Ricky Rouse

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic devotees can get the low down on their recent Sydney show here and check in to Beaver’s Facebook page for lots more Bluesfest photos coming.

Better yet, funkateers in the U.K and U.S. between now and August can find their own euphoric P Funk experience at one of their Shake The Gate World Tour shows.

Filed Under: Byron Bay Bluesfest, Fly My Pretties, Gary Clark Jr., Jimmy Cliff, Jurassic 5, Parliament-Funkadelic, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Tagged With: 2015, australia, bluesfest, byron bay, festival, fly my pretties, funkadelic, gary clark jr, george clinton, jimmy cliff, jurassic 5, music, p-funk, parliament, rodrigo y gabriela, TAPOAFOM

Trinity Roots: Citizen Tour Australia 2015

March 29, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Direct from playing in their homeland of Aotearoa to a crowd of many thousands of loyal fans at WOMAD New Zealand, Trinity Roots have finally blessed Australia with their first-ever Australian tour.

Trinity Roots live at Miami Marketta, Australia 2015

The very special bonus prize for people at all those shows was the chance to hear live and take home the long-awaited, fresh-off-the-press new album Citizen: the first studio album released by Trinity Roots in over a decade.

Citizen (2015)

Beloved

For people in Australia in the musical know, both the Trinity Roots tour and the arrival of new Trinity Roots music was a big deal. They count this group of artists amongst la creme de la creme of contemporary worldwide music-makers of recent history. Most Australian fans never had the opportunity to hear Trinity Roots play their beloved music live before the group disbanded and went their separate musical ways in 2005.

Since the welcome news of a Trinity Roots reunion a few years back and the making of a new album, folks in Australia (and elsewhere) had been waiting patiently with anticipation and excitement for the release of Citizen and the live tour that would follow.

It’s not surprising then that the excitement in Australian venues before Trinity Roots started playing was palpable. So too was the joyful satisfaction of the crowd during their set and long after it finished.

Trinity Roots live at Brunswick Hotel, Australia 2015

Trinity Roots + 1 Live

Trinity Roots in 2015 are original members Warren Maxwell (guitar/lead vocals) and Rio Hunuki-Hemopo (bass/vocals) plus new drummer/vocalist Ben Wood.

Warren Maxwell

Rio Hunuki-Hemopo

Ben Wood

Joining the trio on their Citizen tour was the talented Ed Zuccollo on keys and synth – also the maker of mini-moog sounds on some of the studio album tracks.

Trinity Roots live at Miami Marketta 2015

Trinity Roots’ live performances went above and beyond the crowd’s high expectations. Set lists were a balanced mix of long-beloved songs from past releases (‘Sense And Cents’ – ‘Little Things’ – ‘Egos’ – ‘Two by Two’ – ‘Home, Land & Sea’ – ‘Just Like You’…) and newly-beloved ones from Citizen (‘Bully’ – ‘Haiku’ – ‘El Kaptain’…).

Pick your musical flavours: blues – soul – punk – rock – jazz – reggae or dub. You’ll find all of them throughout Trinity Roots songs of old and especially the new – blended together seamlessly into a distinctive Trinity Roots sound that is perfectly reflective of the beautiful culture and natural environment of Aotearoa – and is totally unique in this huge, wide world of music.

Those songs are played and sung with exceptional skill and musicality and an honest, passionate outpouring of heart and soul. The angelic voice and one-of-a-kind vocal tone of lead singer Warren Maxwell and the three-part harmonies of he, Rio Hunuki-Hemopo and Ben Wood are nothing but a delight to hear live.

What else is there to say? All in all and simply put, the live Trinity Roots experience is absolutely sublime.

Check out video footage here from the shows in Brisbane and Miami – and try to imagine how much better it sounded live and direct in person (and in different venues with varying sound quality). The first one ‘Haiku’, with its unusual time signature, is a new one from Citizen – with ‘Sense And Cents’, ‘Little Things’ and ‘Egos’ from earlier Trinity Roots releases.

Karl S. Williams

Another bonus of catching an Australian Trinity Roots show was discovering the songs and vocals of Gold Coast-based support artist Karl S. Williams. Apparently (says my friend who insisted we get to the gig on time to catch his set) “deservedly, he’s going to be huge”. If you didn’t get there early enough to hear Karl S. Williams play you have another chance next week at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015.

Karl S. Williams live at The Zoo, Brisbane 2015

Citizen

All of the above comments and praise about the live Trinity Roots experience apply to the new album Citizen.

Those live experiences are ones we had and loved – and hopefully will have again many more times. The studio version of Citizen is one we can have in all its beautiful musical subtleties and with its extra contributing musicians and vocalists from the lands of Aotearoa, over and over again forever hereafter – alongside previous and always-beloved releases Trinity Roots – True – Home, Land And Sea and Music Is Choice.

: Citizen (2015)

: Music Is Choice (2010)

: Home, Land And Sea (2004)

: True (2001)

: Trinity Roots (2000)

Sample a couple of the more chilled-sounding tracks off Citizen below. Note like always – these are just compressed mp3 versions of the songs. You can buy the real-deal, hold-in-your-hand, hear-all-the-sounds-of-the-music album on cd now from any good independent music store or on-line – and hopefully on vinyl soonish.

Citizen (2015)

‘El Kaptain’ – Trinity Roots – Citizen (2015)

‘This Road’ – Trinity Roots – Citizen (2015)

I reckon people throughout the wide world beyond Aotearoa and Australia could find themselves a whole lot of goodness in getting to know the sounds of Trinity Roots. If you’re one of them you can check out samples of earlier Trinity Roots music here.

Filed Under: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Trinity Roots Tagged With: australia, citizen, concert, egos, el kaptain, haiku, karl s. williams, little things, live, music, new album, new zealand music, sense and cents, this road, tour, Trinity Roots

WOMADelaide 2015: Nourishment Forever-After

March 22, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Oh WOMADelaide, how I long to be back in your nourishing arms. You came again and gave the people four days and nights of awesomely-diverse arts, culture and music from around the world under sunshine and shady trees in Adelaide’s Botanic Park. You created the space for a vibrant community of friendly, conscious, arts-loving people of all ages to come together and relax; to connect in music, dance, theatre, conversation and food; to smile, be happy and to relish the blessing of being a part of that WOMADelaide 2015 community.

At the start of the fourth and final festival day it seemed like I’d had a wonderfully-sufficient saturation of festival goodness. On Tuesday though, with the realisation that WOMADelaide was actually over for another year; with the return to “normal” life – those four long festival days and nights suddenly seemed all-too-short.

“Life moves so fast – the festival will come again soon enough” I tell myself. I focus on the nourishment I feel from the experience of WOMADelaide 2015 and it’s many happiness-producing moments. I remember and feel better for the fact that those enriching experiences are part of my being forever hereafter. Then I go ahead and calculate the remaining days until WOMADelaide 2016! 🙂

Flavia Coelho at WOMADelaide 2015

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WOMADelaide 2015 Moments

I’m sure each festival-goer had their own special moments in different forms at different times throughout WOMADelaide.

Maybe yours was having a make-over by a Spanish stylist in the Osadia salon? Watching your favourite WOMADelaide artist cook up a delicious native dish in the Taste the World tent or hearing them ‘In Conversation’ at the Speakers Corner?

Osadia

Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky) - Arctic Rhythms - WOMADelaide 2015

Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky) presents Arctic Rhythms

Dancing up a storm to the energetic ‘Bofenia Rock’ performance of Congo’s Jupiter & Okwess International?

Jupiter

Okwess International

Chilling under a tree with the sounds of live music being performed on a nearby festival stage? Climbing that tree for a view above the rest? Or when the music commanded you to get up on your feet and move?

Reliving the sounds of the 60’s and beyond with Native-American artist and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie? Enjoying C.W. Stoneking‘s unique contemporary take on the blues?

Buffy Sainte-Marie

C.W. Stoneking

Getting to the front of the crowd for the closest possible view of your most-beloved artist?

Hearing the Romanian brass-frenzy of Fanfare Ciocarlia?

Fanfare Ciocarlia

Taking the Colour of Time dance and theatre journey with ARTONIK through the festival site?

ARTONIK perform The Colour of Time at WOMADelaide 2015

ARTONIK – The Colour of Time

Going to church of the atypical kind by Sinead O’Connor? Or letting Rufus Wainwright‘s mellow tunes drift you into a feeling of sublime?

Sinead O’Connor

Rufus Wainwright

Browsing the colourful artisan markets or playing around them. Immersing yourself in light and colour inside the inflatable luminarium maze of EXXOPOLIS?

Being rallied into the party-vibes created by Israeli/New-York based group Balkan Beat Box?

Balkan Beat Box

w/ Balkan Beat Box

Chilling out for a Chai break or making new friends with like-minded festival-goers?

Experiencing the visual and musical extravaganza of Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour and his band?

Youssou N'Dour concert at WOMADelaide 2015

w/ Youssou N’Dour

Youssou N’Dour

Seeing mother and artist Neneh Cherry on stage again post-hiatus? Hearing her acknowledge International Women’s Day before performing ‘Woman’ with Rocketnumbernine?

Rocketnumbernine

Neneh Cherry

Or maybe it was later that night when Neneh Cherry joined Youssou N’Dour on stage to sing ‘Seven Seconds’ together?

Excitedly browsing books, vinyl and cds in the Wo Shop to take home music from a newly-discovered festival artist?

Or did your final special musical moments come at the end of your WOMADelaide nights when the music mixed by DJs made you forget you were on your way home and kept you dancing until the night’s very last beat?

DJ Spooky

Theo Parrish

Invisible City DJs

Check out a video snippet here of Theo Parrish’s superb set…

Maybe your happiest festival moments had the same musical sources as mine?

Abdullah Ibrahi m Quartet (South Africa)

Hearing the stunning sounds of 80 years of life and music expressed on the piano through the [beautifully-freckled] hands of jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim.

Abdullah Ibrahim

DJ Spooky (USA)

Dancing for 2+ hours to DJ Spooky’s super-diverse set that took me through much of my life’s music collection from The Police to Nirvana to James Brown to Damian Marley to the best-of-the-best old school hip hop and reggae tracks.

DJ Spooky

Flavia Coelho (Brazil)

Experiencing the super-infectious colours, smile and joyful exuberance of Brazil’s multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Flavia Coelho as she and her band of two performed a fantastic fusion of dub, reggae, ragga, bossa, afrobeat and cumbia.

Flavia Coelho

w/ Flavia Coelho

Flavia Coelho

Al Chonville

Flavia Coelho

Jambinai (South Korea)

That moment at the end of WOMADelaide 2015’s last live set when a member of Jambinai, folk/metal/electro innovators of incredible skill, told the mesmerised crowd “We just want to connect with you in this moment – in this place”. I like to believe everyone else there was thinking the same thing as me: “You have. And I feel incredible for it. Thank you”.

Mista Savona with Prince Alla & Randy Valentine (Australia+Jamaica+U.K)

Hearing the live sounds of reggae represented in genuine One-Love style by Melbourne-based musician and producer Jake Savona facilitating 2 festival performances by the Mista Savona band with old-school Jamaican roots reggae legend Prince Alla and contemporary Jamaican/U.K-based artist Randy Valentine.

Jake Savona

Prince Alla

Prince Alla w/ Mista Savona

Randy Valentine

Check out sample Mista Savona and Prince Alla tracks from Mista Savona Presents Soul to Sound (Various Artists) here plus videos below from their WOMADelaide shows…

‘Captive Bird’ – Prince Alla – Mista Savona Presents Soul to Sound

‘Dub From the Hills’ – Mista Savona – Mista Savona Presents Soul to Sound

Myele Manzanza & The Eclectic (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Moments of happiness were aplenty during both of Myele Manzanza & The Eclectic’s festival performances: from hearing the rich, soulful vocals of Aotearoan divas Rachel Fraser and Lisa Tomlins front-of-stage; to the drum-off between Myele Manzanza and father Sam Manzanza; and the solos of every talented Eclectic band member during the set as they played fluid and completely-fresh sounding versions of songs from Myele Manzanza’s debut solo album One along with new ones: all of them delightfully good. Adelaidean saxophonist Adam Page joining The Eclectic on stage was another.

Rachel Fraser

Lisa Tomlins

Myele Manzanza

Sam Manzanza

Adam Page

Check out a recent interview with Myele Manzanza plus sample tracks from One here.

Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba)

Cuban lands, people and music have a very dear place in my heart. Hearing the chops of Orquestra members young and old performing Cuban music classics live on stage for the very last time as part of their ‘Adios Tour’ truly was a blessed WOMADelaide moment.

Los Originales de Buena Vista Social Club…

: Jesus “Aguaje” Ramos

: Omara Portuondo

: Barbarito Torres

: Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal

Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club

Los Jóvenes de Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club….

Paul D. Miller (USA)

The sound and visual journey taken in the Speaker’s Corner with multi-media artist Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky) presenting Arctic Rhythms in which he traversed a huge scope of fascinating topics ranging from science, politics and climate change through to uncredited music artists of history, digital technologies, the hip hop flow and more – with all roads leading to his multi-disciplinary project work in the Arctic/Antarctic region. The Book of Ice is one part of that project – and the sounds of music are of course another.

Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky)

At WOMADelaide those sounds were created by Paul Miller’s live sampling of Adelaidean musicians Emily Tulloch and Hilary Kleinig playing his Arctic/Antarctica compositions:

“acoustic portraits of ice” played by “ancient instruments vs an iPad”…

: Emily Tulloch

: Hilary Kleinig

Soil & Pimp Sessions (Japan)

Last but not least was making my absolute-favourite musical discovery of WOMADelaide 2015 in the kooky, frenzied, often-grooving jazz sounds of Japan’s Soil & Pimp Sessions playing their only festival show.

Soil & Pimp Sessions

w/ Soil & Pimp Sessions

Some way into their set realising that apart from a few hip hop vocals on one song, ‘frontman’ Shacho wasn’t going to use the mic to showcase his spectacular vocal chops after the other band members had showcased their own respective ones; he’d actually been performing his role of “Agitator/Spirit” in entertaining style and glory all the way along (and thereafter).

Soil & Pimp Sessions concert live at WOMADelaide 2015

Shacho – Soil & Pimp Sessions

Soil & Pimp Sessions

If you missed Soil & Pimp Sessions’ WOMADelaide show, get a glimpse here on video and hear sample tracks below from Chronicle of Soil & Pimp Sessions…

‘Sahara’ – Soil & Pimp Sessions – Chronicle of Soil & Pimp Sessions

‘My Foolish Heart ~Crazy on Earth~’ – Soil & Pimp Sessions – Chronicle of Soil & Pimp Sessions

Soil & Pimp Sessions

Maybe your happiness-producing moments came from none of the above? From something else I missed completely amongst the many WOMADelaide happenings?

Your moments, mine, there was an abundance of them to be had. Whichever ones brought you the most bliss, all the WOMADelaide 2015 moments were good right? Nourishing for the mind, body, heart and soul, yes?

Music festivals are so, so, so good for us. WOMADelaide 2016 will be so, so, so good for us!

How many more days to go?

Prince Alla

To relive or check out more of WOMADelaide 2015 in the meantime: watch Beaver’s FB page for more photos or click on the artist of your flavour to link to videos of their festival shows: Abdullah Ibrahim – Balkan Beat Box – Fanfare Ciocarlia – Flavia Coelho – Neneh Cherry – Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club – Paul D. Miller – Prince Alla – Randy Valentine – Theo Parrish.

Filed Under: Brazil, Buena Vista Social Club, DJ Spooky / Paul D. Miller, Flavia Coelho, Japan, Mista Savona, Myele Manzanza, Prince Alla, Randy Valentine, Soil & Pimp Sessions, Theo Parrish, WOMADelaide Tagged With: 2015, arctic rhythms, australia, buena vista social club, dj spooky, festival, mista savona, music, myele manzanza, paul miller, prince alla, randy valentine, soil & pimp sessions, theo parrish, womad, womadelaide

Myele Manzanza & The Goodness of Music

March 1, 2015 by Beaver on the Beats Leave a Comment

Music is one of the best medicines in the world. Agreed? It bring invaluable moments of euphoric goodness that at times can be hard to find in these lives of ours. True?

Like all of us New Zealand artist Myele Manzanza has a lifetime of positive musical experiences that are a part of his cellular memory. He’s been blessed with an entire life (albeit 27-years-short) surrounded by music and musicians, starting from his upbringing around his performing artist father Sam Manzanza – through to 6 years of Electric Wire Hustle gigs around the world – to his time in Red Bull Music Academy – to the production of his debut solo album One – to touring with Theo Parrish – and all the many musical collaborations and gigs in between.

Amongst the plethora of musical stories Myele Manzanza must have, I asked him in our recent interview to share one profoundly-affecting moment or experience which affirmed the fundamental goodness of music in his own life or in the lives of others.

Check out Myele Manzanza’s answer below.

Myele Manzanza…

“There’s been loads of them – more than I can count. But the first thing that came to my head when you asked that was this:

There’s this pianist from New Zealand, a relatively nomadic character who travels a lot and does lots of interesting things. His name is Jonathan Crayford. He’s like the ‘musician’s musician’. Even though he’s never been as famous as lots of other New Zealand musicians, he was always the one everyone in the Wellington music scene knew “he’s the best”. Anyone would probably tell you that as far as pure musicianship goes, Jonathan Crayford is the best thing that came out of New Zealand, maybe ever.

Jonathan Crayford. Photo by Christopher Mavrič

When I was 19, I was very fortunate in being able to play with Jonathan. I was at music school at the time and we connected and started doing these duo gigs. Jonathan would play rhodes and bass synths and I would play drums, and we would just play. He would kind of improvise compositions as he went. His whole thought process is on an alien level, and his ability to create amazing compositions and improvisation is mind-blowing.

There was this one moment and we were doing a gig with no more than ten people in the room. As the piece went on, if memory serves me it might have been an A-suspended-fourth chord in the right hand and some ascending bass line in the left hand; but the way that he did it, was that the chord stayed there and every four bars or so the bass line kept ascending and ascending in relation to where the chord was. For some reason, the way Jonathan hit it and the way I happened to catch it was like this strange euphoric moment where everything made sense and I felt totally connected to what I was doing.

For maybe two minutes there was nothing that got in the way of this feeling of euphoria.

It was like the film called Limitless where Bradley Cooper’s character takes some magic pill that totally heightened his brain and sensory awareness to where he’s infinitely smarter and can more or less do anything. It kind of felt like that – this in-tune moment – which was just generated from some simple chord and bass line combination, but was something which opened me up to the mysteries of the world and the great profound effect that music can have. It was like a real, direct experience of that.

Even though it was only performing to ten people, it was one of the greatest moments of my life.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catch Myele Manzanza & The Eclectic plus about 50 other global music and dance artists performing live at WOMADelaide 2015 next weekend; and at WOMAD New Zealand the week after. I’m quite sure there will be plenty of those magical, so-so-good-for-us musical moments to be had at the festival.

: Youssou N’Dour

: Sinead O’Connor

: Myele Manzanza

: Abdullah Ibrahim

: Theo Parrish

: Flavia Coelho

: Jake Savona+Prince Alla+Randy Valentine

: Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club

Read the rest of my interview with Myele Manzanza and hear sample tracks from his debut solo album One here.

Filed Under: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Music Value, Myele Manzanza, WOMADelaide Tagged With: 2015, interview, jonathan crayford, music, myele manzanza, new zealand, one, womad, womadelaide

Aotearoa (New Zealand) Music Artists

Erykah Badu (U.S.A)

Fugees (inc. Ms Lauryn Hill) (U.S.A)

ChocQuibTown (Colombia)

Georgia Anne Muldrow (U.S.A)

Ladi6 (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Nneka (Nigeria/Germany)

Telmary (Cuba)

Aaradhna – “brown girl”

Aaradhna – “devil’s living in my shadow”

Fat Freddys Drop – “Cortina Motors” – Bays

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Fat Freddys Drop – “Novak” – Bays

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The Sound

Myele Manzanza on The Sounds

Myele Manzanza: .

Trinity Roots- ‘Egos’ – Home, Land and Sea (2004)

Fat Freddys Drop- ‘Roady (feat. Ladi 6 & P Digsss)’ – Based On A True Story (2005)

Ladi 6- ‘Walk Right Up’ – Time Is Not Much (2008)

Che Fu- ‘Fade-Away’ – Navigator (2002)

Electric Wire Hustle- ‘This World (Feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow)’ – Electric Wire Hustle (2009)

Myele Manzanza- ‘Elvin’s Brew’ – One (2013)

More of The Sound

Bluesfest Before The Funk

‘Get The Picture’ – Trombone Shorty – Say That To Say This

Funk Disclaimer

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic Made Me Do It

Bluesfest During The Funk

“The Mothership Will Fly Just Like It Always Does”

‘T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (Fly Away)’ – George Clinton & The P Funk All Stars – T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M.

Beloved

Trinity Roots + 1 Live

Karl S. Williams

Citizen

‘El Kaptain’ – Trinity Roots – Citizen (2015)

‘This Road’ – Trinity Roots – Citizen (2015)

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WOMADelaide 2015 Moments

Abdullah Ibrahim Quartet (South Africa)

DJ Spooky (USA)

Flavia Coelho (Brazil)

Jambinai (South Korea)

Mista Savona with Prince Alla & Randy Valentine (Australia+Jamaica+U.K)

‘Captive Bird’ – Prince Alla – Mista Savona Presents Soul to Sound

‘Dub From the Hills’ – Mista Savona – Mista Savona Presents Soul to Sound

Myele Manzanza & The Eclectic (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba)

Paul D. Miller (USA)

Soil & Pimp Sessions (Japan)

‘Sahara’ – Soil & Pimp Sessions – Chronicle of Soil & Pimp Sessions

‘My Foolish Heart ~Crazy on Earth~’ – Soil & Pimp Sessions – Chronicle of Soil & Pimp Sessions

Myele Manzanza…

music sublime

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~~Music Lives~~

Abdullah Ibrahi m Quartet (South Africa)

Music Lives