24/4/10 - Departure Lounge ft. BASS CLEF, HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE + MORE

Submitted by astroboy on Tue, 30 Mar '10 3.28pm

For our annual Saturday night show at The Caves (we normally run on Fridays) we've managed to put together a total HUMDINGER of a show for you. Easilly one of the more exciting line-ups seen in Edinburgh for a long time....an unrivalled evening of Afro-centric vibrations, ANCIENT TO FUTURE...

Departure Lounge Presents:
BASS CLEF (Live)
HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE (Live)
SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA (Live)

Saturday 24th April 2010
The Caves, Niddry Street South
Tickets: £11 adv. / £15 on the door
From: Ripping Records, Tickets Scotland & Underground Solu'shn
Online at: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_scotland&query=detail&event=…

Please note we'll be reducing capacity slightly for this one so everyone will have space to get down, boogie, jive, chug, skank, shoegaze or whatever. So of course this means fewer tickets....DON'T DELAY.

Our website: http://www.departurelounge.me.uk

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Full Lowdown:

>> BASS CLEF

The London-dwelling producer and live performer has earned himself a considerable cult following over the years, first turning heads with his distinctive 2006 debut LP, A Smile Is A Curve That Straightens Most Things – which combined influences from grime, dancehall, dubstep, with an all too rare dose of humour, heartbreak and humanity worked into the equation . Subsequent EPs found him refining that mixture to increasingly potent effect, and February 2010 saw the release of a new Bass Clef full-length, May The Bridges I Burn Light The Way, via the Blank Tapes label which has been his home since day one. On this player he indulges his private passion of African township rhythms, and when blended with his famous take on dubstep and dancehall, the results are astounding and infectious.

But it is perhaps Bass Clef’s live performance that best endears him to fans. It’s a riotous show involving trombone, theremin, cowbell, whistles and myriad electronics, and has enthralled huge audiences at Sonar and Bloc among others. The prospect of Bass Clef performing live at The Caves is a good one, certainly.

http://www.myspace.com/bassclefbass (for videos)
http://www.blanktapes.org

>> HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE

If the prospect of seeing Bass Clef perform in The Caves is good, then watching Hypnotic Brass Ensemble play in the venue is almost too much to bear. Formed on the south side of Chicago in 1986 as a family group known as "the Phil Cohran Youth Ensemble", the group consisted of eight horn-playing blood brothers led by their father and teacher Kelan Phil Cohran (co-founder of AACM, Sun Ra's lead trumpeter, mentor to "the Pharoahs" later called Earth Wind and Fire). After years of honing their technique on stage the older brothers undertook music scholarships from universities abroad and the younger ones took to the streets of Chicago earning money by playing music of their own. In 1999 the brothers combined their efforts and began performing a new style of brass music they called "Hypnotic". Their debut album was a massive independent hit, shifting 325,000 units, and catapulting them to national and international fame.

In the past few years, they have traveled all over the world playing for audiences of all genres; opening up for the B52's at Chicago HOB, Talib Kweli at Harold Washington Cultural Center, headlining along with Mos Def at Lincoln center in NY, and backing up Maceo Parker at Apollo Theater in Harlem. This talented family of performers wrote every song on their sophomore release while at the same time recording collaborations with artists such as GhostFace Killah and Tony Allen. Their third album was released on the Damon Albarn co-owned Honest Jon’s, and in the UK they have performed on Later With Jules Holland, supported Blur, and generally won over audiences wherever they have landed. Most recently they can be heard on the track Sweepstake alongside Mos Def on the new Gorillaz album.

It’s a huge honour for Departure Lounge to present the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

http://www.myspace.com/hypnoticbusiness
http://hypnoticbrass.net

>> SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA

The Souljazz Orchestra picks up where the golden age of soulful music left off: they expand upon the rough and raw grooves of the 1960s and 1970s by taking on an eclectic, genre-bending approach, enriched by musical traditions stemming from both sides of the Atlantic. The resulting sound is enthralling and unique: a potent mixture of funk, soul, jazz, afro and latin rhythms, supported by an arsenal of dusty vintage keyboards and driven by powerful horn-drenched melodies.

Founded in Ottawa in 2002, the multicultural Canadian ensemble has since had the chance to collaborate with such legendary figures as Jamaican reggae singer Horace Andy, Rwandan/Burundian guitarist Mighty Popo, as well as Fela Kuti alumni Dele Sosimi and Mabinuori Kayode Idowu. They have played hundreds of concerts across North America and Europe, sharing the stage with the likes of Femi Kuti, Etta James, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Érik Truffaz, Joshua Redman and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

Having turned heads with two fine albums on Toronto label Do Right!, Freedom No Go Die (2006, featuring their breakthrough single “Mista President”) and Manifesto (2008), the Souljazz Orchestra is now releasing its first all-acoustic afro-jazz album, Rising Sun, on the London-based Strut label. Drawing on a wider canvas of styles than ever before, touching on spiritual jazz, West African rhythms and Ethiopian modes, the Orchestra take their sound to new heights with stunning musicianship and virtuoso arrangements throughout. Gilles Peterson has already called Rising Sun the group's best yet, as well as one of the year's top albums.

Souljazz Orchestra have played for Departure Lounge twice before, and its testament to their power and skill that we’ve invited them back a third time.

http://www.souljazzorchestra.com
http://www.myspace.com/souljazzorchestra