Recent posts: Breaking Bits

With the snow-capped mountains and foothills in the distance, I made the short trip from Cali last weekend to attend the fifth edition of Boise’s Treefort Music Fest. On the quest for a new adventure and exploration of a new city, the atypical lineup intrigued and drew me in as I justified the three hour flight commute up north. I gambled that I’d enjoy it because the fests off the beaten path and under the mainstream radar tend to be the best and Treefort fell into this category. There’s no stadium, no humongous park or jumbotron to make the music fan feel like an ant in a sea of thousands. With food, ale and skateforts providing fun during the day, the artists playing intimate, live music at the cozy venues around the city thrilled each night.

It’s no secret great music is timeless. Years might pass and you’d rock a great song in the same way you rocked it the day it dropped. Watching platinum selling R&B triad After 7 perform “Ready or Not” with Jazmine Sullivan during Babyface’s tribute at the last Soul Train Music Awards drew me back to their discography and I delightedly discovered they’d returned with a new single “I Want You”, with the promise of a new album in 2016. Combining original members brothers Kevon and Melvin Edmonds, Keith Mitchell and Melvin’s son Jason Edmonds along with the production prowess of Babyface and Daryl Simmons is bound to be another winning combination for recreating music magic.

As SXSW 2016 fades into the distance and the hype’s died down, it’s time to recap all the madness. Returning to ATX for my third year with a plane full of Angeleno based musicians lugging all sorts of instruments in tow, the aim always remained to have a diff experience than the year before. SXSW provides any type of week on the turnt meter you’d want to have and the target “turnt” level was towards the lower end of the spectrum i.e. I’d see as much as I could, sing, dance and remember what happened each night without sunglasses and Aleve the next morning. Intent on participating in more daytime activities this time around, I was about that “badge life” which provided access to all conference panels, day stages and a pretty dope press room.

Wrapping up a pretty active live February music schedule, I figured Judith Hill at the Grammy Museum would be a great bet. Dropping one of my favorite albums of 2015, ‘Back In Time’, I talked to Judith a few months ago (check out the convo HERE) about making the album with Prince, singing onstage with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and winning a Grammy. On this particular evening, she chatted with the museum’s VP Scott Goldman, going into further depth on her funk-filled childhood and career, growing up with musician parents who exposed her to the stage, getting to see the likes of Billy Preston and Little Richard perform at an early age.

Constructing the February concert calendar for the whirlwind which led me to attend an event each night during Grammy week, I made sure to pencil in Hiatus Kaiyote who announced a series of last min shows in Southern Cali. Getting a chance to briefly chat with them at SXSW in ’15 (peep the interview HERE ), I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see HK (who are based in Melbourne, Australia) twice in one week. For anyone who’s experienced Hiatus Kaiyote live, you know what’s up. For anyone who hasn’t, get thee to a show ASAP.

As we move further into 2016, So Cal music fans annually rejoice as Grammy Week always kicks off days’ worth of activity celebrating the outstanding work of musicians worldwide. This year, the MusiCares Foundation honored Lionel Richie as their “Person Of The Year” which meant a flurry of events throughout the week highlighting the talented musician and humanitarian including a fundraising gala and tribute during Monday’s Grammy ceremony. I attended the first event of the week which featured Lionel Richie being interviewed by Kevin Spacey at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and I knew Lionel and Kevin were funny separately.

For millions globally who heard the Canadian chanteuse’s Portishead-influenced hit, “Here”, off her impressive debut, 19-year-old Alessia Cara tapped into a familiar vein. She inadvertently repped for the complex, artsy other- unveiling the creative, sensitive introvert many secretly are. She’s the “Wild Things” rebel girl who might prefer to be in a beanie, hoodie or flannel shirt scoffing at the popular plastic queens or planning for a bright future pursuing big dreams beyond the safety of “Four Pink Walls”. She could be the one who treasures flaws and “scars to your beautiful” who won’t let you in easily but if lucky enough, will make the unexpected romance well worth the wait.

Every time I hear someone lament that soul or funk is dead, I laugh. Blessed to be sent a lot of dope albums this year, one stand-out in this lively and danceable intersection, which pays homage to those soldiers who came before us, is Nigel Hall’s brilliant “Ladies & Gentlemen… Nigel Hall”. Reflecting expert band musicianship and retro respect for the craft that feels like smooth honey in your tea and as cozy as your favorite sweater on a cold day, Nigel assembled an all-star dope crew of Soulive and Lettuce brothers Ryan Zoidis, Adam Deitch, Eric Krasno , Ivan Neville and Questlove who guests on a key Isley Brothers cover.