2009

I usually have some form of download for you guys; some up and coming mix by the crate digging souls of this great planet. However, I felt that a State of the Union address was important to this column moving forward. We’ve all heard the age old saying that in order to conquer the future, we must first understand our past. In this installment of Wyllys and The World Party, we will give a quick history lesson to educate a generation of people who missed the rave culture at its peak, then move into the present day dance culture to try and understand where the future of dance music is going. School is in session. Grab your Roor. Put on some Aphex Twin…

The story starts in The Bronx on a set of belt driven turntables next to a pile of old funk records. In 1972 Jamaican born DJ Kool Herc had the vision to take these records and isolate the “break” or drum section and mix two records together with an archaic stereo mixer that had a cross fader which was significantly different from the Disco style of mixing at the time, which would just cross fade between two tracks once the original track reached its end. He then took these breaks from the same two records and mixed the two together creating what we all know today to be Hip Hop and laid the base for Turntablism as an art form. Spoken word, or “rapping” quickly caught on fire over these breaks and the MC was born. Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambatta were two of the first to cop Herc’s style and push the genre forward with great success. Not only were these DJs making history, they were giving the youth of the ghetto a ray of hope that maybe one day, they could MC or DJ and find a way out of the projects for good.

READ ON for more of Wyllys and the World Party…

Most baseball players dream of playing in the World Series, most actors dream of winning an academy award and most musicians dream of performing their compositions at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. Last night, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio got to fulfill that dream when he took the stage with the most legendary orchestra in the world at arguably the most famous venue in the world and he made the most of the opportunity.

[All photos by Benjamin Slayter / Slayter Creative]

Anastasio and the Philharmonic performed two sets filled with songs that sounded so natural in this setting you would’ve thought they were originally written with an orchestra in mind. Israeli conductor Asher Fisch clearly understood the Trey/Phish experience and did an exceptional job of infusing playfulness and frenzy into the performance from the beginning of the First Tube opener through the end of the If I Could encore. There was so much going on between all of the different parts each section of the orchestra brought to each song that it was literally mind blowing trying to take it all in. Luckily a mobile recording truck captured each and every note for posterity.

From the moment you walked through the entrance of the iconic venue and saw more balloons on 57th street than at a toddler’s birthday party it was clear this wasn’t an ordinary night at Carnegie Hall. There was hooting and hollering from the moment Anastasio walked on the stage but most of it was good natured and the orchestra seemed to get a kick out of the love and appreciation that was being showed towards them at nearly every opportunity.

READ ON for more of Scotty’s thoughts and Ben’s incredible photos of Trey Anastasio and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall…

We’ve gotta hand it to Rhino for unveiling what looks to be the best Grateful Dead archival release in years – Winterland June 1977 – The Complete Recordings. These shows

Jay Leno returns to the airwaves this week with The Jay Leno Show (NBC, 10PM) and in addition to the star power of Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Cruise, Robin Williams and