There aren’t too many artists making soul music today who had a release in 1969, back when R&B was first beginning to give the drummer some. Lee Fields, however, is one such artist—or maybe he’s better labeled a phenomenon. Since the late sixties, the North Carolina native has amassed a prolific catalog of albums and […]

The genesis of THE WORD began in 1998, when the Avant-jazz and funk group Medeski, Martin & Wood took the burgeoning North Mississippi Allstars on their first tour. Riding down the road, the groups listened to the first two Arhoolie Records compilations of sacred steel guitar, a musical style then just seeping into the broader […]

  Experimental electronic music producer Flying Lotus, born Steven Ellison, is a grandson of songwriter Marilyn McLeod(the co-writer of Diana Ross' "Love Hangover"), as well as a great-nephew of pianist Alice Coltrane, and therefore a cousin of saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. Ellison made beats for the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim network before releasing his debut full-length, 1983, which resembled the work of fellow avant-garde hip-hop […]

Theeey’re baaack! Continuing an incredible year that has seen them drop one of the most celebrated, most cerebral and most searing albums of 2014, Run the Jewels 2, El-P and Killer Mike brings their pulse pounding, hip hop pugilism back to the Twilight Concert Series this summer. El-P and Killer Mike, two of the most […]

It starts with the creation myth: St. Vincent, naked and alone in the wilderness, startled as the ominous rattle of a snake breaks the silence of her Eden. She realizes she’s not alone in the world and breaks into a run, headed towards the uncertainty of the future. It’s a lovely and appropriate metaphor to […]