11/17: EVFA & ArtDontSleep Present: “Homage” feat Roy Ayers

EVFA & ARTDONTSLEEP PRESENT: “HOMAGE”

Performance by ROY AYERS (Full Band) featuring PETE ROCK. Opening Performance by THUNDERCAT (Full Band) and DJ J.ROCC.

Thursday November 17th, 2011, 8 PM to 2 AM
Exchange Los Angeles
618 S. Spring Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90032
http://homage.eventbrite.com

“Homage” is a music series that pays respect to the musical giants that have forever altered the way we listen, sample and love music. We pay our esteem to Roy Ayers for his amazing impact and contribution to hip-hop, R&B and neo-soul. One of the most heavily sampled artists, Roy has  We pay homage to Roy Ayers in pairing him with the legendary Pete Rock, performing live with Ayers and his band. J.Rocc is the house DJ and Thundercat, and band, will open the night with a set. Spinning records in the lounge is Anthony Valadez, Clifton Weaver, Destroyer, Lee Joseph and Marlon Fuentes with KCRW’s Garth Trinidad hosting the festivities.

This event is being held at the historic “Exchange Los Angeles” 618 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90032. Tickets priced as follows: Early Bird Specials $20, Presale $25 and General Admission $30. Admittance is 21 and over. To purchase tickets, visit: www.homage.eventbrite.com

Roy Ayers was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in a musical family. At the age of five, Lionel Hampton gave him his first pair of mallets, which led to the vibraphone being his trademark sound for decades. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, now known as “South Central” but then known as “South Park” was the epicenter of the Southern California Black Music Scene. Ayers is responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack to Jack Hill’s 1973 Blaxploitation film, Coffy, starring the illustrious Pam Grier. In 1977, Ayers produced an album by the group RAMP, Come Into Knowledge, commonly and mistakenly thought to stand for “Roy Ayers Music Project.”  That Fall, he released the soulful and funky hit “Running Away.” In 1980, Ayers released “Music Of Many Colors” with the Nigerian Afro-beat pioneer Fela Kuti. Roy made a huge impact in the world of Hip-Hop and RnB. Artists have sampled and covered him, ranging from Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Mos-Def, Digable Planets, DJ Shadow, Nas, Madlib, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, Common, The Pharcyde, Pete Rock, Jill Scott and many more.

Soul Brother No. 1., also known as, Pete Rock, rose to prominence in the early 1990’s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. After the duo separated ways, Rock continued with a solo career garnering worldwide respect. Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Gang Starr, Nas and Notorious B.I.G., Talib Kweli and the late J Dilla, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip-hop music (also known as jazz rap). He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier and RZA as one of the strongholds of 1990’s East Coast hip-hop production.

Stephen Bruner is Thundercat, the dominant bassist rising within the ranks of R&B, rock, hip-hop, jazz, electronic and beyond. The mystique behind the man named for his favorite cartoon seemingly hides an introspective, ambitious, and fearless young artist whose solo debut album is finally emerging in front of the vast catalog of experience he has amassed in collaboration with the likes of Erykah Badu, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Shafiq Husayn, Suicidal Tendencies, Stanley Clarke, and Flying Lotus, his closest partner and head of the Brainfeeder movement. Stephen is joined by a serious cast of jazz cats!

One of the original turntablists, J.Rocc founded the Beat Junkies in 1992 with Melo-D and Rhettmatic, but has done just as much on his own as in a group setting. He began DJing in the mid-’80s with a California group named PSK. Soon after forming, the Beat Junkies became a seminal force in the rise of instrumental hip-hop, including core member Babu plus future stars Shortkut and D-Styles. In addition to numerous mixtapes and his own production for Stones Throw releases, J. Rocc has been the DJ for Madlib’s live shows since the early 2000’s, was the 3rd member of Jaylib (Madlib & J Dilla) during the group’s live events, and collaborated with Madlib on Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6: A Tribute to J Dilla.

ArtDontSleep is a Los Angeles-based production company founded by Andrew Lojero. For the last 7 years, ArtDontSleep has promoted and produced some of Los Angeles’ most memorable events. Over the years, ArtDontSleep has brought the community a variety of special events. Andrew Lojero also runs Creative for Plug Research Records rooted in Los Angeles, CA. From the Walt Disney Concert Hall to UCLA’s JazzReggae Festival to afterhours in downtown loft buildings, ArtDontSleep shares the torch of great music and extra-ordinary happenings.

Edgar Varela Fine Arts (EVFA) and its managing director Edgar Varela has long been associated with the conceptualizing, programming and execution of cultural events. Driven by art and music, EVFA discerningly curates art and music festivals, concerts, art exhibitions and sponsor-driven specialty events that are relevant and provide economic development for blighted areas and the enrichment of culturally vibrant areas. Edgar Varela also operates two project spaces and produces over myriad events a year, with an education in Business & Marketing and an events-production background, he has earned a reputation in the Los Angeles cultural events world.