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| Chris Dave |
"Keep an open-mind and imagine you're spending the night digging records in your favorite underground music store" is roughly how Chris Dave introduced his live project with his musicians from the Drumhedz yesterday night ath the New Morning in Paris.
Well, a hell of a records store that was !
The kind of joint offering white labels of crazy free-jazz versions of Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillepsie, Jimi Hendrix, Fela Kuti, Blondie or 90's Hip-Hop classics.
The kind of place you'd not want to leave at closing time, even after a 2h30mn-long torrent of beats.
The kind of place you don't really find anymore in fact...except in Chris Dave's fantasy music world !
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| Kebbi Williams |
Displaying once again his phenomenal drumming skills, discontructing, reconstructing, discontructing again to reconstruct another way any rythmic line, he also managed to build a strong band around him.
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| Jermaine Williams |
If I already knew charismatic sax/flute player Kebbi Williams from Chris' previous visit in Paris in 2011, I discovered with an incredulous feeling the brillant bass player Jermaine Williams and guitar whizz-kid Isaiah "Sharkey" Thomas, whose complicity with our favorite drummer is simply joyful.
Possibly my favorite gig of 2012 !
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| Isaiah "Sharkey" Thomas |
Below a few video extracts :
"Imaginez simplement que vous passez la soirée chez votre disquaire favori, à piocher sans préjugé au hasard de bacs remplis de pépites". Tel est en gros la façon dont le génial batteur Chris Dave a introduit hier soir au New Morning son nouveau projet live avec ses compères du Drumhedz.
Vous parlez d'un disquaire ! Le genre d'endroit où l'on tombe sur une ribambelle de reprises déjantées façon free-jazz d'Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillepsie, Jimi Hendrix, Fela Kuti, Blondie ou d'airs Hip-Hop sortis des 90's. Le genre de shop où vous aurez tendance à supplier pour gratter encore 10mn d'écoute à l'heure de la fermeture. Bref le genre d'endroit qui n'éxiste plus trop de nos jours...sauf dans le monde musical parallèle de mister Dave !
Une fois de plus absolument incroyable à la batterie, il n'en finit plus de détruire, reconstruire, détruire encore pour reconstruire de mille autres façons un nombre infini de lignes rythmiques. Il est aussi devenu un réel band leader, sachant s'entourer et emmener dans son tourbillon créatif des musiciens incroyables. Si je connaissais le charismatique saxophoniste Kebbi Williams qui l'accompagnait déjà lors de sa précedente venue l'an passé, j'ai découvert ahuri le bassiste Jermaine Williams et surtout le prometteur guitariste Isaiah "Sharkey" Thomas dont la complicité avec Chris est juste jouissive.Peut-être le meilleur concert que j'ai vu cette année !
Plusieurs extraits vidéos ci-dessus.
Sympa cette review. La seule pour le moment. Congrats comem on dit.
ReplyDeleteThe show was hectic as usual with “the most dangerous drummer alive”. Check my attached setlist picture! Plus he did covers like “Renaissance” (Qtip), “Mainstream” Outkast with the hanting guitar riff . Line up include Mr Isaiah "Sharkey" Thomas on guitar (yeah same cat on D’Angelo revival tour 2012).
Et tout ça avait été prévu par Meshell... such a brilliant artist !
Le "Mainstream" d'Outkast...mais c'est bien sur! j'aurais pu le chercher des heures, shame on me, d'autant plus que c'est un titre que je joue de temps en temps lors de DJ sets, MERCI !
DeleteTo be even more precise, here is what I put in my ipod:
DeleteSample from OutKast "Mainstream" (ATLiens, 1996) as featuring Martin Terry on haunting guitar.
Original sample from Goodie Mob "Sesame Street" (Soul Food, 1995)
Original song Ramsey Lewis "Dreams" (Funky Serenity, 1973)
Listen to the song played by the Drumhedz at the Cork Jazz Festival ; une tuerie!
Thanks again for your video and review
Gildas
Ref to your videos: The video entitled "Chris Dave Jam Live in Paris, 191112 " is the cover of Goodie Mob Sesame Street as played on OutKast's "Mainstream" (1995)
ReplyDeleteThe first Encore was mainly a cover of "Renaissance" by Q-tip
Here is the setlist picture:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/20121119204401.jpg/][IMG]http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/9408/20121119204401.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.us]ImageShack.us[/URL]
Gildas
Or just http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/20121119204401.jpg
ReplyDeleteAlternate:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/20121119204401.jpg/][IMG=http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/9408/20121119204401.jpg][/IMG][/URL]
The video called Rapture should be renamed "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (James Brown cover, In the Jungle Groove, 1969)
ReplyDeleteCheers
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deleteactually, not that sure about this one...
Delete100% sure it is not Blondie. Check yourself ; not enough BPM compared to what Mr Dadda Dave is used to play!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCdS7O248g
DeleteThe song they played is clearly a mix of James Brown and Dilla sh*"\$..t
Cheers
Gildas
I'm sure the sax chorus in the middle is rapture from Blondie, then the rythmic line probably is the brown/dilla mix you mention
Deletethx gildas
Thx all for the answers, will update the videos when I have a minute !
ReplyDeleteand for the record, because Music is now not only about CDs !! But about Love...oh YEAH !!
Delete>> "Chris Dave and the Drumhedz consists of world-renowned musicians that always alternate. The band may include a combination of any of the following: saxophonist, key player, bassist, guitarist and drummer (Chris Dave).
The show takes the audience on a musical journey by playing a variety of genres. Sometimes the band performs covers that are inspired by themes from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, D’Angelo, Fela Kuti, Radiohead, J Dilla and many more. With special surprise guests showing up during performances such as Beyoncé, Mos Def, and Bilal to name a few, Chris Dave and the Drumhedz always adds to the energetic movement of the show.
Chris Dave and the Drumhedz has featured great musicians such as Tenor Saxophonist Gary Thomas, bassist Joseph McCreary professionally known as Foley who played with Miles Davis from 1987-1991, Derrick Hodge and Pino Palladino, guitarists Isaiah Thomas and Tim Stewart, and Cleo “Pookie” Sample on keys.
>> Born in Houston, Texas, drummer Chris Dave, also known as Chris “Daddy” Dave, began his music career in the late 1980s. Chris Dave is one of the most revered and in demand musicians of his generation. His eccentric approach to the drum set and his ability to adapt to any musical setting, whether jazz, hip-hop or R&B, has put him in a category of his own.
Chris Dave got his start, like many musicians, playing in church. Although gospel music was an important facilitator of Chris Dave’s early style development, he credits jazz music as his strongest influence. As a teenager, he was exposed to jazz legends like Miles and Coltrane when listening to music with his father. Chris Dave blossomed on the drums, eventually graduating from Houston’s prestigious High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
He studied at Howard University in Washington D.C. where he met acclaimed producers and former Prince associates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Through this relationship, Chris Dave began working with R&B band Mint Condition and the rest as they say, is history.
As the 1990s came to an end and the 2000s began, Chris Dave’s assent as one of the greatest drummers in the world began to take shape. His open interpretations of rhythm and his ability to conform to each musical setting differently led to many new opportunities and platforms for Chris Dave to show his evolution to the world. Recent projects include his contribution as the featured drummer on Adele’s Grammy nominated album 21, Maxwell’s Grammy winning album BLACKsummers’night and Robert Glasper's Black Radio.
Formed in 2010, Chris Dave And The Drumhedz consists of Pino Palladino on bass, Kebbi Williams on sax, Tim Stewart on guitar, Pookie on keys, and Chris Dave on drums.
Chris Dave has been around the world and back playing for and recording with some of music’s most established and iconic artists including: Adele, Maxwell, D’Angelo, Beyoncé , Kenny Garrett, Terrence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Donald Brown, MF Doom, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Me’shell N’Degeocello, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Sonny Rollins, the Robert Glasper Trio/Experiment, Pharoahe Monche, TLC, Toni Braxton, Kevin Mahogany, Kim Burrell, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Common, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, A Tribe Called Quest, Mint Condition (Janet Jackson World Tour), Michelle Williams, Dianne Reeves, Sa Ra, Geri Allen, Yolanda Adams, Soulful Symphony, Reginald Veal and more.
“Chris Dave is probably the most dangerous drummer alive. He is totally reinventing just what you can do with drums.” – ?uestlove