Q-Tip review for SHOOK.fm

Nobody hypes New York City more than New Yorkers themselves, but if you were part of the melee that witnessed Q-Tip destroy Central Park’s Summer Stage on Saturday afternoon you may well agree that for free, outdoor, summer mayhem, Gotham reigns supreme.

Headlining Giant Step’s turn at Rumsey Playfield on a sweltering afternoon, Tip followed an energetic performance by Yukimi Nagano and Little Dragon – the days when Nagano stood motionless throughout a Koop set clearly behind her – and filler slots for Deviation’s Benji B, rocking a different colored check shirt to the one he donned at Giant Step’s Hudson Night earlier in the week. The bafflingly trumpeted Chester French filled the middle hour, sending the rhythmically challenged into spasms of delirium, before Tip and band took the stage shortly after 5pm, helpfully reminding us why we were all getting sunburned.

Strutting onto stage to Shaka off Renaissance, Tip murdered it straight from the get-go, moved into Johnny Is Dead and had already sweated through his white Gap v-neck tee before stopping to salute a home crowd, rep Queens, raise a finger for Dilla, and another for Michael Jackson, from which he launched into Move, sounding heavier than Prop Jo after Thanksgiving in Baltimore.

Like the European shows, Tribe classics accompanied his solo material. Oh My God and Find a Way raised the temperature, Electric Relaxation and Bonita Applebum caused foaming of the mouth, but collective female adoration was reserved for You, though mainly returned for his mother who sat at the side of the stage.

It ain’t just the ladies that were showing Q some serious love. Leading the man-love was none other than P Diddy, never one to be upstaged, who clambered up alongside Q to do his little P Diddy dance, quickly scuttling off to the cacophonic, ironic cheers of rapturously tweeting hipsters.

If this was a lesson in showmanship, the encore demonstrated the possibilities for crowd participation as Tip jumped the barrier and sauntered through the crowd backed by Life is Better and assorted off-key fans, before scaling the VIP section, a feat his heavy-set detail couldn’t quite match as he went crashing to the wooden deck’s floor.

Q-Tip has evolved into the consummate entertainer, deadlier than the Taliban, and sicker than swine flu. If this is the Renaissance, Q-Tip may well be its shining light.

(Words and Q-Tip pics: C-Rob; P Diddy pic: Sara Skolnick)

 

Michael Jackson

I haven’t been devastated by the news, I guess because there is so much good music to listen to and it probably hasn’t sunk in yet.

Yesterday was all about old Jackson 5 records, Skywriter and Get It Together (released together and available for MP3 download on Amazon), but today is ALL about the MJ TRIBUTE podcast here!

Here’s the post on SHK

 

Gil Scott Heron review for SHOOK.fm

Photos by Esther Babb

Anticipation of a Gil Scott Heron show contains the possibility, nowadays, that he may not turn up; a truism he makes light of when he appears, if a little late, in customary driving cap and shades, looking relaxed and genuinely pleased to take the stage at S.O.B.’s for his second set on Wednesday night.

“For those of you who thought I wouldn’t be here,” rags that gravelly voice, “you lose!”

He’s in good spirits and a diverse crowd is gratefully reminded why he commands such a loyal following. Though he recently turned 60, the years have taken their toll, and yet the mischievous twinkle in his eyes remains.

He opens with a monologue, a tribute to Stevie Wonder for his oft-overlooked role in the campaign to have Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday recognized as a national holiday in the United States, recalling a time when January 15th meant more than “mattress sale.” It’s a wayward salute to the British jazz musician and designer of the TONTO synthesizer, Malcolm Cecil, who is in the audience. Cecil’s creation inspired some of Wonder’s best-known hits, earning him production credits on Superstition and Talking Book. It’s also an opportunity to plug Scott-Heron’s forthcoming autobiography, The Last Holiday, not due for publication until January 2011.

We are finally reunited with his timeless sound when he plays the opening chords to Your Daddy Loves You. He will play without accompaniment for almost an hour, and it’s testimony to his unique presence, and voice, that a venue which can be a little soulless is lost in nostalgia under his spell.

Your Daddy Loves You was not, as some have mistakenly interpreted over the years, written from personal experience, but shaped by sympathy for a man who could do everything but tell his daughter he loved her. Similarly, we are told, Pieces of a Man referred not to any of his own well-documented struggles, but demonstrates rather his gift for storytelling. His performance is sprinkled with such anecdotes and reflections to savor.

On a muggy evening in New York City, Winter in America is reintroduced via Roy Ayers’ Everybody Loves The Sunshine, and followed by Three Miles Down off the album Secrets, and a recollection which tickles Scott-Heron that this song was once adopted by the Coal Miner’s Union as their theme tune.

Though originally a response to a near-disaster at a local nuclear power plant, the United Auto Workers Union might want to consider using We Almost Lost Detroit which sounds unfortunately relevant, though no allusion is drawn to the current state of affairs either during its rendition, or indeed throughout the evening. Scott-Heron is here to entertain and is joined by his current musical director Kim Jordan for Is That Jazz?, providing an opportunity to scat, and slur in that Chi-Town-East-Coast-Southern drawl.

The set closes with Home is Where the Hatred Is, before he disappears down a flight of stairs. To an appreciative crowd’s delight he’s back swiftly for an encore, re-imagining his opening line; “Anyone who bet I wouldn’t come back up the stairs, you lose!” Continuing blackly: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” He’s coasting when he loses himself in Better Days Ahead, and it’s impossible not to share in his hope, that “there are better days ahead for you and me.”

 

Queensbridge

An article in the NYT about Queensbridge, birthplace of Nas, Mobb Deep, and home to the Jacob Riis Community Center, where i have been working on Thursday nights.

 

Caught on camera

At Brooklyn Museum’s James Brown vs Fela Kuti party with DJ Spinna and Rich Medina. It was heavy.

No idea who the chica is.

 

vegans

“when we have finished all the meat, let’s eat the vegans.” (seen on the back of a bathroom door)

 

sad story, good journalism

There’s something very sad about this story – a disturbed man is shot dead in a church parking lot in coney island.  I think the fact that three journalists spent the time to follow up on the story about an “invisible man” deserves credit. The writing is good but the style is a little formulaic.

 

civil war in 4 minutes

Animated history of the american civil war in four minutes, ripped from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

 

rocky rocky

Made on the streets on Phillay and NYC… starring Merv as Rocky…!

Rocky Merv

Rocky Merv – Behind the Scenes

 

frightening palin dotcom

missed this one, like it though