UPDATE: This is cancelled. Organizers plan to reschedule. We’ll let you know.
Last year, in Los Angeles, ‘Timeless,’ a concert series was held to pay tribute to composers and arrangers that influenced hip-hop in enormous ways. The first featured Ethiopian jazz god Mulatu Astatke, who’s provided samples for MF Doom and Little Brother. (dig this, y’all.) The second, ‘Suite for Ma Dukes’ was a tribute to the late J Dilla with a 40-person orchestra performing classic interpretations of, like, “Find a Way.” (Yeah!) The final one brought out Arthur Verocai, the underappreciated bossa-nova cult figure, to play his essential 1972 self-titled album not only in entirety, but for the first time ever. (NPR loved it.)
Anyway, the concerts sold-out, ended up legendary, people filmed them, it looks unbelievable and it’s being shown Sunday night at the ACAC. Even cooler: afterwards, DJ Applejac spins a special Dilla tribute set. This is some legit hip-hop head stuff, guys.
Now, this may be me throwing impartiality out the window, but believe me when I say this isn’t a to-do: it’s a can’t miss. Hands down, my pick of the weekend. See ya there.