Release
Timeless DVD 3 Pack (Mochilla)
It’s finally here! Mochilla’s Timeless three DVD pack is released now and is the result of a good year-and-a-half’s worth of work from the Mochilla crew who have previously been responsible for the DJ Dusk Soundclash DVD and the Jackson Conti LP. Between February 1 and March 15 2009, producers Eric Coleman, Brian ‘B+’ Cross and Andrew Lojero undertook three events in Los Angeles showcasing the work of composers whose output has been pivotal to the development of Hip Hop: Mulatu Astatke of Ethiopia, Arthur Verocai of Brazil and James ‘J Dilla’ Yancey of Detroit, USA.
They’re all very much join-the-dots affairs, as is the intention of the project which was originally conceived as a four-parter, with David Axelrod pulling out at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. Opening with Mulatu Astatke, these all black-and-white concert films take in some behind-the-scenes, fly on the wall type vignettes like musicians jamming backstage and introductions by popular radio personalities like Garth Trinidad, which really give you a sense of what it might have been like on and around the night and from all sides of the building. It’s impossible to pick a winner as they are all so varied in what you get musically, for instance you have Mulatu Astatke’s hauntingly funky Afro-Latin Jazz, J Dilla’s off-the-wall approach to sampling and Arthur Verocai’s lush, cinematic and slightly psychedelic Brazilian Bossa-Jazz. Mulatu’s performance features a cast from yesterday and today like Todd Simon, Dan Ubick, Phil Ranelin of Tribe and is co-mixed by Will ‘Quantic’ Holland. It would be amiss to call any of these in-demand players like Ranelin ‘yesterday’ as their contribution to music is timeless, hence the concept. Regardless, Miguel Atwood Ferguson of Build An Ark fame acts as somewhat of a glue to the series, appearing at all of the concerts as either a string player or as the full-blown arranger and composer, in the case of the ‘Suite For Ma Dukes’ event.
The Dilla event will probably will garner the most interest in this paper, but don’t expect too much boom bap or next snap from ‘Suite For Ma Dukes.’ Atwood-Ferguson picks some hidden gems from the catalogue including Le Yachting, Hoc n Pucky and Take Notice and at times, they’re unrecognisable, which is in perhaps homage to the way Dilla used to twist and tweak samples himself. Special guests including Amp Fiddler, Karriem Riggins, Posdnous, Talib Kweli, Bilal and Dwele all make sizeable contributions in a cast of sixty-plus.
The mysterious Arthur Verocai had, until recently, only released one self-titled solo album, which was reissued maybe ten years ago by Ubiquity offshoot Luv n Haight. The Brazilian composer has been sampled dozens of times by the likes of Doom (who acts as co-host to the night) and Madlib and is a serious, if not unheralded source of inspiration for aficionados of Brazilian music. His session is particularly joyous with Azymuth’s Ivan Conti on the drums and Airto Moreira on percussion and provides a cheery wrap to the trio of events. Whilst this would be a superb experience on a proper DVD and hi-fi set up, I think the beauty will be felt for years with the downloadable audio versions that should introduce a new level of appreciation of classical style that can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime. There was even a version by The Roots of ‘Antiquity’ that may or may not appear on their upcoming LP ‘How I Got Over.’ Needless to say, it’s a family affair that very vividly communicates the depth of emotion these people have about the music they love. Certified essential.
