Jazz and Hip Hop come together
Buckingham (Anibal Santos/ Lariat)
Jazz/Hip Hop artist Katisse Buckingham was the guest artist on Monday night’s Jazz Lab, playing with Saddleback College’s Jazz Lab Ensemble in the McKinney Theatre.
The Jazz Ensemble began playing with “Perdido” by Juan Tizol, then followed it with “Matriarchal Conspirator” composed originally by Joey Sellers.
The show was a small intimate concert between the musicians and the audience. Chairs for the audience were set on the stage with the band to help re-create the feeling of a jazz club.
“We are going to share some good music with you tonight. We’re very excited about our guest artist tonight – we have Katisse Buckingham joining us a little later tonight. He is going to join us after a few tunes,” said Joey Sellers Director of Jazz Studies.
Buckingham is a multi-disciplined musician who mixes soul, hip hop, jazz and beat boxing with traditional and contemporary jazz to produce an eclectic experimental sound.
The music was laid back and easy going, but the band abandoned their laid back approach when they performed Billy Strayhorn’s, “Take the A-Train,” increasing the speed of the tempo in their music.
Student vocalists Jean-Luc Rollando and Anastasya Korol joined the show for their rendition of Cole Porter’s “You’d be so nice to Come Home To.”
Buckingham joined the student musicians after Korol and Rollando finished their duet. He began his show with “Incantation” a smooth easy instrumental song before moving on to the more eclectic “Before the Dawn” where he used Spoken Word which showcased his blend of hip hop and contemporary jazz influence.
After the show, Buckingham commented on the musical performance of the Saddleback’s jazz students.
“I thought they did a really great job. A lot of terrific soloists in here and they did a great representation of my tunes,” said Buckingham.
Buckingham is currently working on his new album, which will be released in Spring 2013. His current album Lyrical Worker is available now.
(Anibal Santos/ Lariat)
(Anibal Santos/ Lariat)