Last Week In Music

This past week of music was pretty supergood by most standards. As far as what I actually saw - the week in reverse....

Thursday I witnessed a special funk fueled cover laden performance by Soulive with guests Nigel Hall (vocalist) and Karl Denson (saxophone/flute - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Greyboy All-Stars, Lenny Kravitz). With covers from Beatles to Hendrix, scat and flute battles, Eric Krasno's (guitar) fingers and Alan Evans (drums) arms moving faster than lightning and a wide catalogue to choose from - the funk was heavy and fun was had at The Roxy.

Wednesday I went to see Kosha Dillz at Key Club. It was a Sean Healy Presents local hip-hop event, with east coaster Dillz being the exception. Kosha busted tracks from his unreleased 2nd album, as well as a few cuts from Beverly Dillz, while he taped scenes for his music video "L.A. Ish." Verbs even guested with Kosha during his famous object freestyle. While Dillz was the most memorable of the performers - Foci and Flamez were also worth watching.

Tame Impala with Liza Richardson at Echoplex (for the unaware - Liza is a local DJ and a top notch music supervisor for programs like Friday Night Lights) was something I regrettably missed due to work and illness........umph dat!

Saturday night I caught a freestyle battle at Trip. I saw Verbs and ran into Kosha Dillz, who'd just come into town from Chi-city. Foci, people from One Nation Hip Hop Summit, a grip of characters from the underground LA hip-hop scene and plenty of MCs hungry for a piece of the microphone were all in attendance too. The action was fierce and I wish I'd had my flip cam to capture it. Kosha Dillz broke things up in the middle of the battle with an inspiring set that included his famous object freestyle.

I caught The Bad Plus at The Mint on Friday night. The room is always a cozy venue - but Friday it was over saturated. You never know what you might get with Bad Plus - and on this night, I felt they explored a lot sonically. While each member of the trio are great instrumentalists, it wasn't for my mood. I was hoping for something more aggressive and patterned - a few more "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - esque covers as opposed to Ornette Coleman ones.

Looking forward to the week ahead, but more importantly - looking forward to some sleep. The Concert Blast will be in your e-mail box in a few hours.

Thanks to The Roxy, The Mint, Key Club, Trip and all the staff at those establishments for making this week in music a happy and safe one for me.