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X-WR-CALNAME:ANOTHER SIDE SERIES: BILAL in New York City at Blue Note 
	- Eventful
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DTSTART:20080604T223000
DTSTAMP:20080601T064004Z
SUMMARY:ANOTHER SIDE SERIES: BILAL
DESCRIPTION: FEATURING: Bilal\, vocals Robert Glasper\, piano Steve Mc
	Kie\, drums Conley Whitfield\, bass Ben O'Neill\, guitar  These are ex
	citing times in music\; a return to purity\, risk-taking and truth-tel
	ling. Yet it has been some time since we have seen the likes of BILAL 
	OLIVER. His prodigious debut album 1st Born Second (Moyo Music/ Inters
	cope)\, is a symbolic raising of the bar\, worthy of critical examinat
	ion. Herewith the work of a man born on the cusp of the eighties: the 
	launch of MTV\, Prince's Dirty Mind\, Reganomics\, the digital revolut
	ion\, the lingering stank of Parliament's Motor Booty Affair (aww-aakk
	! aww-aaakk!)\, and "Rapper's Delight". At barely twenty-one years old
	\, Bilal Oliver is clearly possessed with that oldest instrument: the 
	Voice. Bilal emerged as part of the loose-knit Soulquarian collective\
	, which included the likes of Erykah Badu\, Common and Mos Def. His br
	eakthrough 2001 release\, 1st Born Second\, melded hip-hop aesthetics 
	with neo-soul vocals and clear jazz influences\, winning him enormous 
	praise and a spot on the Billboard top ten. Bilal has since appeared o
	n a number of new and important jazz recordings\, including Robert Gla
	sper's Canvas and John Ellis's Roots\, Branches and Leaves. He has wor
	ked extensively with The Roots and Common and made a guest appearance 
	on The Three Tenors of Soul release "All the Way from Philadelphia." S
	tayed tuned for an upcoming recording/ DVD from Bilal. To wit: 1st Bor
	n Second\, a work of resounding superiority\, recalls Donny's soul and
	 Mahaila's sanctified. Like Nina Simone\, Bilal is classically trained
	\, he in jazz and big band arrangements and opera voice. This child of
	 hip-hop seeks to approach swing and scat with the same expansion and 
	technique as Ella Fitzgerald. He writes his music\, lyric and note. Th
	at is worth repeating: Bilal writes his music\, lyric and note. Becaus
	e of all these things-exquisite turns of phrase\, embodiment of the fe
	minine\, and a rooted understanding of pitch\, emotion and the note-th
	at\, if all goes as should in these\, Bilal is surely one of the most 
	significant artists of our changing times. After twice appearing on Co
	mmon's Like Water For Chocolate\, Guru's Jazzmatazz Street Soul\, and 
	writing and producing with kin like Erykah Badu\, it is understandable
	 that 1st Born Second is ultimately about birth\, elders\, and order. 
	1st Born Second is at turns reverent and blasphemous. Ragtime and Rufu
	s. Mardi Gras and baptisms\, homecomings and homegoings. An amalgamati
	on of field hollas and folktales\, organs and weeping\, brave bursts o
	f song\, heavenly choruses and truth\, truth\, truth. Bilal Sayeed Oli
	ver is named so because his mother is a devout Christian and his fathe
	r\, orthodox Muslim. "He wanted to take my name a few times\," Bilal s
	ays\, he of the church on Sunday\, hell on Monday faith. Raised in Phi
	ladelphia\, Bilal frequented hole-in-the-wall clubs till sunrise with 
	aspirations of scoring film. His eventual classical training at New Yo
	rk City's Mannes Music Conservatory ensured him able to sing opera in 
	seven languages as well as an extended musical vocabulary. Bilal is a 
	young disciple of King Tubby and Jelly Roll Morton\; music of the earl
	y twenties\, that pitch and swing\, the bass striding on all fours. "I
	 am fascinated by the history of our music. Jazz is a whorehouse\," Bi
	lal says of the historical sin and salvation of the form. "The origina
	l booty shake." Perhaps he shall silence Wynton Marsalis and those con
	servative keepers of institution\, naysayers of today's musical youth.
	 From the first single is "Soul Sista"\, produced by Raphael Siddiq\, 
	to the haunting\, maddening\, deeper "Queen of Sanity\," to the I-Thre
	e meets LaBelle meets The Clark Sisters arrangement of "Home\," 1st Bo
	rn Second is the masterpiece of a young genius. 
LOCATION:Blue Note @ New York, United States
SEQUENCE:1212302404
UID:E0-001-011824839-1
URL:http://eventful.com/E0-001-011824839-1
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