25 March 2008

SUNSHINE

Roy Ayers and Tony Allen are two of the worlds greatest musicians. Roy changed the way we appreciate soul music and Tony drummed for over 15 years with Fela Kuti and led us to a new world of drumming through afro beat. J.ROCC is the worlds greatest DJ and needs no introduction. Homenaje (homage) is the newest series that ArtDontSleep has crafted, geared to bridge the gap between the elders and young adults in the Los Angeles community...

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Performances this Saturday 3.29 by:
Roy Ayers *Live*
Najite feat: Tony Allen
*Live*
Special Tribute to Fela Kuti

DJ’s:
J.ROCC
Coleman
Jeremy Sole
Anthony Valadez

Located @ The Crash Mansion
1024 S Grand Ave. :: Downtown Los Angeles, CA

21+ Wiser :: Doors Open @ 8pm-1am
Info :: ArtDontSleep
*early arrival suggested*

Dig Deeper...



Roy Ayers

Roy Edward Ayers, Jr. was born in Los Angeles, CA on September 10, 1940. The 1970’s found Roy embarking upon a long and fruitful relationship with Polydor Records, where Roy, committed to the search for and exploration of new musical concepts began to incorporate “wah wah” and “fuzz” tones on his vibes. It was during this period he formed the group Ubiquity. The term Ubiquity (from the Latin) means the state or capacity of being, or seeming to be, everywhere at the same time. Roy Ayers obviously took his group’s name to heart for the Roy Ayers sound was virtually omnipresent. As musical genres changed in scope and definition, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock n’ roll, pop and disco each fought for a niche with the public and the major record labels. Meanwhile, a new sound was slowly emerging; the American audiences referred to it as fusion, the British called it jazz-funk. Regardless of its moniker, Roy Ayers became the undisputed champion of a sound that seemed to draw from his jazz, rhythm and blues, Latin, funk and dance music roots. For the next ten years, Roy Ayers produced what many regard as some of his finest works. The mere mention of certain song titles -- ”Virgo Red”, “Change Up the Groove”, “Mystic Voyage”, “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”, “Vibrations”, “You Send Me”, “Lifeline”, “Fever”, and the list goes on and on -- evoke fond memories for fans ranging in age from their twenties through their seventies. It is rare when an artist is able to speak to, grasp and hold the attention of so wide a demographic, for so long a period of time.


Tony Allen

Born in Nigeria in 1940 of mixed Nigerian and Ghanaian parentage, Tony Allen is perhaps the most highly-regarded African drum set player to emerge since World War II. Drummers and other musicians of all backgrounds marvel at his uniquely polyrhythmic style. Tony came to international prominence in the 1960s as a member of the band of the late Nigerian bandleader Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, with whom he played for 15 years. Fela Kuti is himself recognized as one of the most important and influential African popular musicians/composers of the post-colonial era, and it is widely accepted that Tony Allen was his crucial collaborator in the synthesis of jazz, funk and highlife which resulted in the style known as Afrobeat. Tony Allen’s work with Fela is documented on over 30 recordings and today, he remains the primary exponent of Afrobeat.


J.ROCC

The Funky President of the Beat Junkie Crew. For well over ten years, this man has established himself as one of the illest DJs around, with his signature blends and supreme selection. A steady globe-trotter, J has travelled extensively and showcased his solid knowledge of music with the very best talents, including the late great J Dilla (RIP). His deep catalog of mix tapes and cds are considered classic, from "Syndromes" to "Taster’s Choice." J is well-versed in a wide array of sounds, and always gets down something serious when behind the decks.

21 March 2008

BON ANNIVERSAIRE ERIC!

today my brother Eric Alexandre turns 32... earlier today he emailed us this pic of him somewhere in Afghanistan, where he lives:
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here's a pic Eric took driving through Kabul:
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click
here for more interesting pix.

17 March 2008

Sippin' on Gin'n Juice...

Laaaaaid back, with my mind on my muh-ney and...
i bet Snoop's behind this! Snoop better stick to the basics & skip the whole
Sensual Seduction act!!! Oooooooh-weeeee:

oh boy oh boy

16 March 2008

SAN FRANCISCO

Deb & I represented Q Department in SF...
here are some pix taken on the go:
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14 March 2008

traveling without moving

only 2 years after moving from Brussels to Quito, we were told we might only have 2 months to pack our bags & move to Rome. i remember looking into Rome's Lycée Chateaubriand & finding out it is one of the best French international schools in the world. the daughter of an Ecuadorian diplomat in my class had attended that school while her father was stationed as the Ecuadorian ambassador to Rome, and she had great things to say about her experience there. it was also much larger & formal than the Lycée La Condamine, Quito's French International school where classrooms were seperate cabins & 3 lamas ran around freely within the school's gates. we also had large cages with monkeys & parrots from the Amazon. i remember having to build a seperation within the cages to keep the monkeys away from the birds. those tiny monkeys got pretty aggressive & chased dangerously after the poor birds. anyhew, prepared for Rome, we were then told the move was cancelled & we might be sent to Vienna instead, which i wasn't too excited about. i imagined Vienna populated with conservative types listening to Mozart & waltzing around the city. when i was told Vienna was actually pretty vibrant, all i could think to myself was how living in a "Sound of Music" sing along was sooo not going to work for me. several months later, rumor was that we were off to Tehran. not quite like Rome but edgier than Vienna!!! phew!!! another diplomat in Quito who had just been transferred from Iran reassured us that Tehran was actually very safe & lots of fun. with so many restrictions, he said there was a steep contrast with what happened throughout the city behind closed doors. he went as far as saying that he had attended parties often much wilder in Tehran than in many cities of what is considered the free world. MUSIC TO MY EARS!!! i was ready for Tehran. then that fell through as well & my folks had only 2 months to pack their bags & move to Caracas. i'm really glad they did because i loved it there. besides, i was very happy to stay in South America, my favorite place on earth, after California. years later, i was living on my own in Los Angeles. my folks were still in Caracas & my stepdad was 2 years away from retiring from his 30-plus years as a diplomat. they decided to send him to Luanda, the capital of Angola, a former portuguese colony in Africa. the British amabassador in Caracas had lived there for a few years. his wife had very fond memories of Luanda. she described it as the quieter, smaller, more provincial African cousin of Rio de Janeiro with more infrastructure problems due to post colonial wars, conflicts & corruption. she said Angolans were very warm & fun, and the embassy district was beautiful, making up for all that Luanda was lacking to someone with "European standards." by then, my brother Eric was in Anapolis; i was at USC, and my youngest brother Jonathan was about to graduate from high school & was planning on going to college in the USA as well. my mother decided she didn't want to move to Africa & be so far from her 3 sons. my stepdad ended up retiring early & my folks got a place in Miami, a short flight away from LA, Anapolis & wherever Jonathan would go. he decided on Miami as well...
i wonder what it would have been like to visit my folks in Luanda over the holidays. how great it must be to meet these crazy kids:

06 March 2008

SexyLadyLand

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DJ CubClub (Trevin) will be spinning (well, mp3ing) lots of obscure stuff from the 70's and early 80's. kraut, french coldwave, italo disco and space synth...
some of the stuff he'll be playing is ripped from some pretty rare vinyl so scratchy in places, but i'm sure you'll find some interesting new music for your own libraries...

here's the skinny:


SexyLadyLand
who: DJ CubClub
where/when: Verdugo on Sunday 3.9 from 10pm to 2am

the Verdugo is only a 5 min. drive north of Silver Lake. so not that far east if you live away from the east side & think it's too far away. here's
more info on this cool spot...

05 March 2008

last friday

right before going to see Cat Power at the Wiltern, i was at the Stones Throw party where these 2 pix were taken:
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unfortunately, all the pix i took at the Wiltern were stolen along with my labtop & camera... as for Chicho, she's still at the vet being treated & on really strong antibiotics & other meds (5 different kinda pills). i was told it's probably not cancer but i won't get full results of biopsy till friday. i'm trying to stay as positive as possible. she's the love of my life!
i'm on a friend's computer & should have another labtop by friday. i'm just going to have to work my ass off & book more work to cover for all the expenses hitting me at once: my move, exorbitant & unexpected vet bills, a root canal, etc etc... c'est la vie!

04 March 2008

blog hiatus

unfortunately, i made the mistake of leaving my powerbook labtop & my canon camera laying around on the floor of my empty pad when the cleaning crew came in on monday morning. i simply grabbed my treo, walked to the next room (the laundry room) & let them alone in my place while i was sorting out the laundry going to goodwill & the salvation army. 2 hours later, the cleaning ladies denied ever seeing my labtop & camera there, and even allowed me to search their car but to no avail. i surprised them when i addressed them in spanish while i caught them wispering something about my labtop as they were leading me to their car. obviously they must have assumed i was just another dumb gringo. my landlady remembers seeing my belongings as she let them in but they insisted never seeing them or moving them, which was a lie. anyhew, i have filed a police report & am still waiting to hear from a detective. LA cops are the worst i've ever met. i honestly have better faith in the cops of supposedly corrupt places like venezuela, ecuador or morrocco where they've always been extremely nice & cooperative. i have accepted that i need to get a new labtop & camera, and will be blogging again when that happens. i might even need some of you to help me rebuild my iTunes library... sigh!!! also, chicho is spending the night at the vet. she has developped a skin rash that is related to her lowered immune system. they shaved all her fur, are cleaning out the skin, gave her a biopsy & blood tests... it was sad for me to see her completely zonked out while they were shaving her. i will know the results of her tests tomorrow, and hope curing her will be painless & easy...