When the conversation of popular music turns to the 1990s, many people might remember the birth of the Grunge era, alternative rock and the slew of bands that came out of Seattle, Wash. Acts like Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Mudhoney, among others rose out of the Northwest to help foster the burgeoning alternative rock scene across the country.
But elsewhere in the United States, other influential acts were making a name for themselves in the hip hop genre. Artists such as De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Busta Rymes and Mobb Deep came out of the same decade and broke through in a mainstream way, much like alternative rock took hold and eventually became mainstream, to the point that even JC Penney starting selling flannel shirts.
One of those hip hop acts whose influence is still being felt today is A Tribe Called Quest, whose members were childhood friends growing up in Queens, N.Y. The four members released five albums between 1990 and 1998 and are considered iconic pioneers of alternative hip hop music, fusing elements of jazz, R&B, funk and rap.
Given the fact that the group influenced so many acts of today, veteran actor and music fan Michael Rapaport decided to make a documentary about the group after seeing a reunion show at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in 2006 and financing the film, initially with his own credit cards.
The end result is Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. As part of the L.A. Film Fest, which runs through June 26, KCRW radio station is presenting a screening at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater on Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m. Using performances and interviews from the 2008 Rock the Bells festivals that they headlined, the four members of A Tribe Called Quest trace their history from the borough of Queens to the formation of the group in 1988. Beats, Rhymes & Life is also the title of Tribe’s only number-one album on the Billboard Top 200. The film will also screen at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood on Friday, July 8. Ticket information for the June 26 screening can be found at kcrw.com/events/.
A fine bill has been put together for Friday, June 24, at Culver’s Club For Jazz at the Doubletree Los Angeles Westside Hotel, with soulful and gospel-inflected singer Mary Stallings appearing with the Eric Reed Trio. Reed has played with trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard and Gerald Wilson, while Stallings teamed with the late vibraphone player Cal Tjader in 1961 on a disc for Fantasy Records called Cal Tjader Plays. The cover charge is $15 and reservations are recommended. More information on the show can be found at in-housemusic.com/.
Royal-T Café in Culver City continues its eclectic and boundary-pushing music policy with Trios for Deep Voices on Thursday, June 30. The concert will feature composer/bassist Christopher Robert’s compositions for three double basses. There is something about a deep-stringed instrument like the bass, which almost has a human vocal quality to it when bowed, that brings out the most primal sounds when played in this ambitious compositional and harmonic way.
From its rapid passages of difficult harmonics and unique bowing techniques to its pensive stretches of lyric, vocal-like melody, Trios is a stunning work inspired by the Star Mountains region of Papua New Guinea, where Roberts lived in the1980s. And it’s located in the heart of Culver City. The cover charge is $10 and $5 for students. Royal-T is at 8910 Washington Blvd.
For anyone who feels like they’re putting more of their money in their gas tank and leaving less for entertainment, the Friday Night Jazz free concert series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art continues this week with jazz vocalist Sandra Booker, regarded as one of the emerging and important voices in modern jazz vocal music.
Then on Friday, July 1, LACMA Friday Night Jazz features renowned pianist Larry Nash, along with burning saxophonist Rickey Woodard. All Friday night concerts begin at 6 p.m. and require no reservations.
