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Break. As in "breakbeat." That ten second slice of percussive magic in the middle of a funk song that, when looped together by progressive South Bronx DJs in the 1970s, became the basis of the hip-hop movement.
Arkestra. Out-there jazzer Sun Ra's funkafied concept of the stuffy classical orchestra.
Flip the script and you wind up with a unique definition of the 10 piece, Los Angeles based ensemble known as The Breakestra.
The Breakestra was born as the result of a vision by bassist/ guitarist/ upright cellist/producer Miles Tackett. Tackett fell in love with hip-hop after hearing Ultramagnetic MC's' Critical Beatdown in the late 1980s - the era in which tons of dusty drum breaks and funky samples first saw the light of day. As part of the original crew that produced LA's weekly coffeehouse series The Breaks, Tackett spun records by The Meters, Kool & The Gang and The JB's. But he was a musician before he was a DJ. Why not assemble a band to rock the breaks he loved? A band that could interpolate and interpret that
glorious funk for the hip-hop generation?
This is how the band that became The Breakestra came together: Josh
"Wallet" Cohen on drums, Geoff "Double G" Gallegos on sax and flute, Todd Simon and Paul Vargas on trumpet, Dan Osterman on trombone, Carlos Guaico on keys, Davy Chegwidden on percussion, Dan Ubick on guitar, Soulsister Demya and Mixmaster Wolf on vocals and Tackett himself on bass, upright cello and vocals. The Breaks has since morphed into a Thursday night extravaganza called the Root Down, in reverence to organist Jimmy Smith's classic. Tackett and The Breakestra perform regularly to capacity crowds along side
hip hop luminaries such as Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Black Eyed Peas, Freestyle Fellowship, Cut Chemist, and DJ Shadow.
Following up on the underground release of their first "LP," The Live Mixtape Volume One, The Breakestra is prepared to drop Volume Two on Stones Throw Records. A collection of inventive covers of deep funk classics, The Live Mixtape Volume Two packs over 30 joints into a 40 minute album. From Sly and The
Family Stone and James Brown to The Third Guitar and Tony Alvon, The Breakestra
will get everybody onto the good foot! Combined with an intro and various interludes
of "looped" recreations of famous hip hop samples, Volume Two will even pave the
way for the "funkily naive" to embrace the rhythmic revolution that James Brown kicked
off more than thirty years ago.
Get yourself down to the Justice League this Friday and get funkified!
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