18/11/2009
More Pics From the 'All The Rage' Event
I just stumbled across some more pictures from the All The Rage Event by photographer 'Wesley Hort'. His pictures are stunning and I don't know how he got them to look so nice! Check them out, especially the ones of Janelle Monae, they look spectacular. Sadly I think Wesley must have turned up after our set as there are no pics of Beatnik performing (maybe my face was breaking his lenses!!!)
17/11/2009
Oscar Peterson @ Ronnie Scotts
After my last post about my favourite jazz pianists I had to post one of my favourtie performances of all time, Oscar Peterson at Ronnie Scotts. Amazing! Even his band are in awe of him at some points during this.
Thelonius Is From Another Planet
To me there are a few musicians that rank up there as godlike figures. Jimi Hendrix, Squarepusher, Toots, Al Green....... (the list does go on a bit) but one of the top spots will always be taken up by Thelonius Monk. I have a similar list in each musical genre so here is my top 3 for Jazz piano players in this order:
1. Thelonius Monk
2. Oscar Peterson
3. Art Tatum
Many may object but here is a video of Thelonius proving why he holds top spot and as you can see its not just me who is in awe of his talent, even the great Count Basie can barely seem to believe what he is seeing and hearing! Absolutely Spectacular!!!! And I couldn't resist a live performance of 'Off Minor' too!
Beardyman & The Heritage Orchestra
On Saturday night I went to my favourite south coast music and arts venue, the De La Warr Pavillion. I missed the opening act which was a piece written by Gabriel Prokofiev for one turntablist and an orchestra playing off each other (It was originally composed for DJ Yoda as you can see in this video).
However we turned up just in time for the second act, Beardyman and The Heritage Orchestra's improvised show.
If you have never seen Beardyman, he is a very talented beatboxer (you can see him performing his beatbox recipe in one of my older posts). This time he was backed by an orchestra and a conductor. The music progressed in one of two ways; either beardyman would imitate the instrument with his voice and they would then copy and loop, or when beardyman was busy looping the beats and sounds he was contributing then the conductor would take over control of the orchestra. He had a board with a 2 octave keyboard printed on it and would point to the notes for 8 bars until the musicians picked it up and started playing. This second route was far less inventive as most often each note would then be played for 4 beats and lead to far more of an ambient sound than I would want at a standing concert. The two conductors worked well together, Beardyman dealt more with starting and stopping the orchestra, velocity and timbre while the conductor dealt more with the musical side.
Everything picked up whenever Beardyman was running the beat but when he passed over to the drummer it started to lag again. Also the loops and melodies he was proposing to the orchestra were far more interesting and syncopated than they seemed to manage to recreate which seemed to lose a lot of the soul. The drummer looked actually scared when Beardyman was battling him as he couldn't recreate the beats nearly as well.
The crowd were the most responsive and appreciative I have ever seen (but I am too used to stush London crowds) but were most happy as soon as there was a hint of a drum and bass beat. My personal favourite moment was far more stripped back as beardyman and the lead violinist improvised together and created a truly moving moment.
All in all another great night from the guys at the De La Warr!
16/11/2009
Janelle Monae live @ Cargo - All the Rage - Beatnik
To follow on from the last post about Beatnik performing at Cargo for the All The Rage event alongside Janelle Monae, here is the lady herself performing 'Smile' atop a stool on that very night. The stool really helped her diminutive stature to be so much more powerful and commanding as she performed an amazing rendition of this infamous song. She also painted live during another of her tracks and then proceeded to throw the wet painting into the crowd (which everyone seemed to like even though the paint was still soaking wet and must have ruined lots of items of clothing!). After the event all her die hard fans ran up and took the used paint brushes so i guess they were on Ebay the very next morning.
I must again just say how amazing her band were, I have listened to a lot of her music out of the studio and the live versions surpassed them all! They had me dancing like a maniac. Huge shout to Kellindo and Mike, i hope to get to work with you guys soon. If you don't know Janelle then to give you an idea she is the protoge of Outkast and my favourite tracks of hers sound like a version of 'Hey Ya' from the 50's remixed in the year 2050!
Check her out whenever you get the chance!
'Smile' - Janelle Monae
Beatnik (Dj Nikki & Statis) live @ Cargo - All The Rage - Janelle Monae, Rich Hill & Boobonic
'Get Down' - Beatnik (Dj Nikki & Statis) Live at Cargo - All The Rage Event
'It Came From London - Beatnik (Dj Nikki & Statis) Live at Cargo - All The Rage Event
'Dusting' - Beatnik (Dj Nikki & Statis) Live at Cargo - All The Rage Event
Last week Beatnik (Dj Nikki & Statis) performed a 4 track album sampler at Cargo. The event was for the 'All The Rage' charity and was put on by SMJ Entertainment. We opened the night with Dj Nikki providing a 2 hour DJ, I then joined her on stage for a 20 minute mix and scratch session and finally i picked up the mic and we finished up by performing 4 of our tracks!
We were the only British act throughout the whole night and were followed by 'Rich Hill & Boobonic' who played a laid back, smoking influenced hip hop set of 5 tracks. The headliner of the night was of course Janelle Monae and her band who absolutely rocked Cargo with their amazing performance. Janelle herself was superb equalled only by her guitarist 'Kellindo Parker' (The nephew of Maceo Parker) and drummer 'Mike Phillips', two of the best dressed and nicest guys I have ever met in the music industry.
The whole evening was hosted by two of Beatnik's best east London friends, 'Paz and Lingo'. These two guys could liven up a wake with their dancemoves and patter on the mic. Check out Lingo's debut album '999' which is out now!
Below are loads of pics from the night with videos of Beatnik performing and Janelle Monae too.
My Other New Timepiece - Timex Ironman
At the same time I received the Timex Expedition in my plast post I was also given a slightly more utilitarian watch as well, the Timex Ironman.
This Timex watch comes with a dongle for your ipod that once plugged in allows the user to control the ipod from their watch! This is great for sports and jogging but I aslo think it will be great for me so I don't have to elbow other passengers on the tube/bus to change track. I wish this feature was in all watches and worked with all mp3 players!
Timex Expedition - My new watch!
Timex Expedition
I have to say thanks again to the guys at Down For Whatever for giving me my very dapper new timepiece. It looks so fly in the yellow and it has and altimter, barometer and thermometer settings too! I have been busting it out since they gave it to me at all my dj gigs and performances, even my Bell & Ross phantom has been lying on my desk since!
Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles
Just one of the best performers ever and so tight on the piano.
Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles
Jason Derulo - River Island - First Secret Session (Phone Footage)
I was filming Jason Derulo's performance on my phone while Dj Nikki had the camera so here is my footage as I had the best spot in the house! All the little 13 year old girls there were hating me for completely obscuring their views. The camera footage is in the post below.
Jason Derulo - 'Watcha Say' - River Island Secret Sessions (Phone Footage)
Jason Derulo - 'New Single Preview' - River Island Secret Sessions (Phone Footage)
Beatnik @ the Jason Derulo & River Island Secret Session
River Island kicked off the first of their Secret Session performances today with Jason Derulo and a select crowd of fans, press and VIP's (Dj Nikki and Statis of course!). Here we are with Jason himself. There's also a few videos of his performance! And huge thanks to the guys at Down For Whatever for hooking me up with my Gabicci Jumper and my Duck & Cover coat - the bowtie is all vintage Statis though!!!
Jason Derulo - River Island - First Secret Session
Dj Nikki and I are at River Island's first secret session performed by Jason Derulo. It was a really good set and can't wait for the next one. Check out the video which will be uploaded soon.
29/10/2009
All The Rage - Beatnik Opening For Janelle Monae
Beatnik are opening the 'All The Rage' show at Cargo on November the 4th. Also performing will be Rich Hill and the Grammy nominated protoge of Outkast, Janelle Monae. Tickets are about £30 and there are some left at the 'All The Rage' site.
Beatnik will perform 4 of our own tracks and also provide a dj set. We have only just had time to start rehearsing yesterday but the show is already looking good. We should be on at about 9 and the 4 tracks we have desided to do in this order are:
Get Down
It Came From London
Dusting
D.O.A.
I think this should smash up the place sufficiently but if anyone thinks we should do any of our other tracks then feel free to pass on your suggestions.
Anyway, come down if you can make it, it should be a great show and Janelle Monae's only UK appearance this year.
NEW BEATNIK REMIX!!! - Beatnik vs AK - 'Paris' - Beatnik are Dj Nikki & Statis
NEW BEATNIK REMIX!!! - Beatnik vs AK - 'Paris' - Beatnik are Dj Nikki & Statis
NEW BEATNIK REMIX!!! - Beatnik vs SK - 'Nasty' - Beatnik are Dj Nikki & Statis
NEW BEATNIK REMIX!!! - Beatnik vs SK - 'Nasty' - Beatnik are Dj Nikki & Statis
28/10/2009
Its Alright, I Feel It - Nu Yorican Soul (Masters At Work)
Some guys who claim to be masters at their work, I think we are all in agreement there!
Black Gold Of The Sun - Masters At Work (4Hero Remix)
Black Gold Of The Sun - Masters At Work (4Hero Remix)
Just the best combination of people ever, can't go wrong...ever!
Just the best combination of people ever, can't go wrong...ever!
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