Whereas many rap reveals notoriously by no means begin on time, final night time’s live performance [Thursday, February 4] at Kaufman Music Facilities’s Merkin Live performance Corridor wasn’t your common Hip Hop expertise.
Promptly at 7:30pm, members of the 17-piece PitchBlak brass band took to the stage for a particular efficiency with Pharoahe Monch because the night’s ecstatic bandleader.
Along side the Ecstatic Music Competition, the efficiency was a collaboration between the 2 acts, that includes unique lyrics from Monch’s fourth studio album, PTSD, set to preparations crafted by a number of members of the brass band.
From strings to brass to vocals, all substances had been current to make an eclectic, spectacular rendition of Monch’s music, and as grasp of ceremonies for the night time, Monch’s efficiency was charming and really heartfelt. All 18 individuals on stage gave one thousand % for the occasion, making for an fulfilling night time showcasing extraordinarily excessive musicianship from gifted performers doubling as followers of high quality Hip Hop seeking to have a good time.
“I had all the time been seeking to do one thing like this,” Monch mentioned within the Guardian throughout an interview previous to the occasion. “However for this venture particularly … I all the time wished a extra dramatic state of affairs, reside – and in addition so as to add some actors onstage, which I’ll be making an attempt to do right here, as effectively. The man who’s in cost [of the Ecstatic Music Festival] simply introduced to me how totally different the setting is – and the venue – from what’s regular with Hip Hop. So I used to be like: cool.”
The efficiency of the album as backed by the brass band was merely epic, being damaged up into two elements with an intermission, which Monch mentioned was extra for him than anybody else joking that he sweats lots. The sound was unbelievable and listening to songs similar to “D.R.E.A.M.,” “Nonetheless Standing,” “Dropping My Thoughts,” “Put up Traumatic Stress Dysfunction,” and Monch’s smash single from his debut again in 1999, “Simon Says,” had the viewers standing up from their cushioned theatre seats clapping and dancing alongside.
The PitchBlak brass band incorporates tubas, trombones, saxophones and different devices historically not seen in Hip Hop within the spirit of The Roots and different reputed reside acts, and sometimes collaborate with quite a lot of emcees to recreate hip-hop albums in a singular, energetic method that gives a brand new, artistic dimension to the reside present. Completely unbelievable.
Picture by way of Instagram courtesy PitchBlak brass band
