Trekked to this show early to catch young jazz-hip hop drummer Overall’s set. By trekking, I mean park at the YMCA, walk under Rt 9, over some crusty RR tracks, through some construction zone, and past the condemned Harbor Park Restaurant, to get to the venue. A free show that requires one to register, I felt like I was in an outtake of The Amazing Race just to get here. Happy then to be joined by a large crew of young Friday night revelers. Overall rapped from behind the kit and walked out front to spit rhymes. Joined by another drums/ conga, keys, and soprano sax, this crew didn’t just straddle the jazz- hip hop line as much as create something new. Some cuts from his new star cameo heavy release Animals were tasty.
Headliner Digable Planets are hiphop royalty. Two releases in the early 90s, Reachin and The Blowout Comb helped define the genre. The original DPs: Butterfly, Ladybug, and Doodlebug reunited for a 30th anniversary of the Reachin record. Joined onstage by Overall and his brother Carlos on sax, and another pair of brothers on guitar and bass, they bumped through the hits. The music is rhyming interplay between the three rappers that leans more Timbo boots and jazz than Benjamins and Glocks. Ladybug still evokes Brooklyn cool but gave us a reality time check by announcing that her son attends UConn. Butterfly aka Ishmael Butler has had some post DP success with his afrofuturist outfit Shabazz Palaces. The set took in all the hits: It’s Good To Be Here, Pacifics, Where I’m From, Time And Space, Escapism, and Rebirth Of Slick. Daily extreme weather event Hurricane Lee spared us the rain but gave a windy, cool evening which seemed to mess with the sound.
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