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Dakah :: SXSW by Kayceman |
New Orleans: the quintessential, musical amalgamation of past and present; where the antiquities of old dance quietly mix in time with inventions of the new; a physical manifestation of the phenomenon of repetitive history, in life and in music. And amidst the Mecca of musical genius, because of this theory of cyclical history, it is only a matter of time before the musical world made a full revolution back to the proven and undeniable basics of that which precedes it. Modern sounds are typically built upon basics established prior to their inception, either duplicating or defying the status quo. The Romantics used fundamental principles of the Classics, and they from the Baroque; Philip Glass defied rules followed by generations of musicians by writing music in opposition to previously understood principles. Jazz greats, Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, played through emotion and understanding they drew from classical study. The Big Band era of the 1940's drew inspiration from musical organization in structure, rhythm, and style. Rock and Roll, at its inception, was heavily influenced by the blues and jazz of their predecessors. Rap and Hip-Hop utilize not only the structure of historical music but actual samples as well. The musical world has made a full revolution from whence the classical forefathers of music from Beethoven and Stravinsky came; and it was only a matter of time before a musical genius successfully combined history with an immense and visionary ability, to produce something quite new. Dakah, a sixty-piece (yeah you read it right, SIXTY-PIECE) hip-hop orchestra from Los Angeles, with more than 30 string players (in addition to the rest of the orchestra), rappers, turntablists, beat-boxers, singers, a harp, and members of the Breakestra, Jurassic 5, Weapon of Choice, Macy Gray, Ben Harper, and the Beatnuts, is the quintessential manifestation of this historical theory, worthy of New Orleans' audibly trained musical gourmands; Composer, Greg "Double G" Gallegos, has single-handedly and methodically revived the tired and unoriginal musical sounds of modern music typically found in recent years.
A graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Gallegos played trombone in the Colorado Symphony for a stint before moving to Los Angeles, where he and other co-founders, including bassist-composer Kaveh Rastegar, found a large pool of talent from which to draw. The initial result was a scaled down version of Dakah (initially 23 members), which has now grown into a massive musical group dedicated to the improvisational threads of jazz as much as the organized structure of a symphony. The group's name, Dakah, is derived from a Ghanaian theory of societal organization, in which each individual's specific talent, symbiotic in nature, provides support for the outcome of the whole: a microcosm of musical matrimony. Remaining true in form to the classics, Gallegos leads his musicians as one collective group, through a balanced series of themes, movements, modulations, and resolutions, maintaining a symphonic structure while adhering to jazz and hip-hop free style scats and rhythms. Rappers and singers improvise, producing politically charged lyrics: social and cultural diatribes for the masses. It would be easy to dismiss this grandiose effort on the part of 67 musicians as an attempt to recreate the hip-hop version of the Polyphonic Spree, as many critics have done; however, with such an intense grasp of musical theory and technique, an enormous understanding of social nuances, and the drive to produce music that simply is good, Dakah has already succeeded in superseding any boundaries produced by musical genre-trapping definitions.
In a city that is so full of talent, it is sometimes easy for "out-of-town" musical acts to be overlooked – especially during a time, such as Jazz Fest, when local musicians are celebrated and sought out by audiences from all over the world. New Orleans offers a plethora of jazz and funk aficionados; throughout the entirety of the ten day festival, one can find something great on any given night. Dakah, however, encompasses the highest standards of the New Orleans talent with the vision and musicality of the best local musicians. Their sound is refreshing and new; it combines the technique of the classically trained with the artistry of the modern and hip. To experience their live show, is like attending six concerts all at once: the intimacy of a jazz show, the excitement of a big band concert, the liveliness of a hip-hop session. Dakah provides something for every music lover; 67 musicians combining forces of talent and musical understanding – a musical experience that is sure to impress, it is a show that is not to be missed.
Catch the Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Friday April 29th at TwiRoPa!
Sara Cohen
JamBase | New Orleans
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