Wednesday, February 27, 2008

SOUL EXPLORATIONS :: SOULPEOPLE :: SPRING SOUL 2008

Major Soul Events Hit L.A. This Spring

February 4 2008 • Text by Tomas Palermo

New York may be known as “the city that never sleeps,” but it's looking like Los Angeles is the city where art don’t sleep. This spring, Angelenos will have a whole lot of soul to stay awake for, as local collective Art Don’t Sleep has assembled some amazing music events in the coming months.

ADS’s five-part Soul Exploration live music and DJ series, held at The Crash Mansion in downtown Los Angeles, kicks off with a bang Saturday, (in conjunction with SOULPEOPLE) February 16 with a live performance from Philly-born, New York-based singer Bilal (of the Soulquarians), featuring SA-RA Creative Partners. Also performing that night is nine-piece band Orgone, celebrating its new album, The Killion Floor, on Ubiquity Records, and DJs Coleman and Al Jackson.

Part two of the dynamic, independent soul showcase goes down March 1, with PPP (formerly Platinum Pied Pipers) performing live, London’s Spacek Sound System, heavy L.A. emcee/producer combo Blu and Exile along with San Francisco’s DJ Sake 1, and J-Boogie with L.A. DJs Coleman and Aski.

On March 8, Art Don’t Sleep switches it up with the Cali party series featuring The Lions’ Jungle Struttin album release party and live performance. The night will also feature live sets from Ubiquity artists Nino Moeshella, veteran soul singer Darondo, and L.A.’s Connie Price and the Keystones, with DJs Jeremy Sole, Shakespeare, and Aurelito (I&I Soundsystem). That’s an insane live line-up!

March 15, Soul Exploration part three takes place, featuring a live performance by the legendary group RAMP (sampled by Tribe Called Quest and others), with all five original members. Also playing live are The Rebirth and Boogaloo Assassins with DJs Coleman and SOULPEOPLE’s Cid Hernandez. To put this night in perspective, the DC-based RAMP (pictured above) has been largely ignored in the U.S. since the '70s, playing mainly European gigs in recent years. But the popularity in recent decades of its Roy Ayers-produced classics “Daylight” and “Everyone Loves The Sunshine” has brought the group wider acclaim.

The Crash Mansion is located at 1024 S Grand Ave. at Olympic, downtown Los Angeles. Shows start at 9 p.m., are 21 with ID and covers vary.

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