timeless I of IV

this past sunday february 1st, ArtDontSleep, Mochilla and Vtech drew back the curtains on the first edition of Timeless, a four -part epic concert event series that has historic composers performing with orchestral accompaniment at the Luckman Complex in Cal State Los Angeles. Ethiopian Mulatu Astatke, widely recognized as a trail-blazer in East African music and Jazz in general, was the featured composer of the night along with a 15 piece orchestra.

the night began with DJ sets by Egon of Stones Throw, Quantic and Cut Chemist. Egon and Quantic both had sets of obscure, foreign funk and soul that were amazing. Cut Chemist performed his entire set with one turntable, a mixer and a foot pedal, creating on the spot loops and break-beats filled with funk.

still, once the screen behind the stage was raised and the orchestra began to file in, it was clear tonight was about Mulatu and his music. Performing a set entirely of original compositions with some dating back decades and some recent, Mulatu Astatke held the audience captive through two 45 minute sets.

it was truly amazing to see an auditorium full of record collectors, DJ’s, hip hop heads, producers, young people, older folk, professionals, kids wearing hoodies and fitteds, hipsters; all in awe of amazing music an a spectacular performance. this clip is not from the night in question, but it’s very recent and a good taste of Mulatu live. I also think he did this joint in LA as well.

a big, big thank you and congratulations has to go out to the ArtDontSleep and Mochilla camps for creating something so special. A very special thank you is due to the good people at VTech, they are starting to develop a tradition of supporting that next shit with their previous involvement with ArtDontSleep, Mochilla and Stones Throw. This historic event would never have been possible without their support and understanding of the importance of something like this. It’s rare to find a corporate sponsorship that is as involved and excited about the art as the artists themselves. The entire series is not only recognizing the connections between the beats we hear today and past compositions, but it’s going a step further by explicitly placing the music of today in the same musical narrative as Mulatu, Verocai and Axelrod.

on a personal level the show was amazing. It felt good to be that excited over a performance again and the atmosphere was damn near electric.

as for Mulatu, he conducted himself with the humility and poise of a legend. During the concert he stood casually over his vibraphone and drums, never rushing or forcing his playing. He seemed to truly enjoy performing.

Afterwards, at the after-party at an undisclosed location in the city, Sam and myself were walking up to the entrance when a black sedan pulled up and out came Mulatu with the same calm demeanor he displayed onstage. When we approached him with accolades of his great performance, his only response was, “thank you very much… where is the party?”

classic.

below are pictures from rehearsal (thanks to Tom from VTech) and the afterparty (thanks to Jenny Cho)

Azul comes through with more after-hours flicks for that ass.

the next installment in the Timeless series is entitled A Suite For Ma Dukes and will feature Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino conducting a 30+ piece orchestra paying tribute to the legendary J Dilla with an opening DJ set by the incomparable House Shoes. There will also be an accompanying EP released with selected orchestral interpretations of James Yancey’s music. More details on that soon.

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