Tag: Floetry

Wu-Tang Clan at The Mother Church of Country Music: Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

Wu-Tang Clan, Ryman Auditorium

While this was billed in the media by NPR and Rolling Stone as an historic event for a hip-hop act to headline “The Mother Church of Country Music”, Trigger at Saving Country Music.com reminds us not only that a few hip-hop acts HAVE previously graced this stage (albeit not as headliners) [J Dilla and Slum Village opened for Floetry in 2002, Nelly played a benefit in 2013, and Lauryn Hill and Janelle Monae have headlined in recent years*], but also how “the media portrayed the event, once again looking to characterize country music as a white-only, racist, exclusionary institution that took until 2019 to have hip-hop act play its Mother Church, and skewing the historical record to do so in a way that excluded the contributions of other African American and hip-hop performers to the Ryman’s legacy.”

I would implore you to read Trigger’s full article On The Wu-Tang Clan Playing The Ryman Auditorium as well as his other recent article regarding Lil Nas X, The Media Echo Chamber, & Shane Morris’s Vile Past.

My addition to that conversation is this documentation of the full Wu-Tang Clan, operating as a unit, as they embraced that sociocultural media narrative and used this night and performance as a chance to celebrate hip-hop and it’s ability to break down barriers of exclusion and racial tension.

* If we’re pointing out these media omissions, I have to add Erykah Badu‘s St. Patrick’s Day 2004 performance at the Ryman that still goes down as one of my top 5 shows of all time.

Wu-Tang Clan
June 9, 2019 – Nashville, TN @ The Ryman Auditorium
Part 1 of 2: Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber, Da Mystery of Chessboxin’, Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit

Wu-Tang Clan
June 9, 2019 – Nashville, TN @ The Ryman Auditorium
Part 2 of 2: Method Man, Tearz, Reunited, Duel of the Iron Mic [GZA] (ending only), Mary Jane [Rick James] > Ice Cream [Raekwon]

Wu-Tang Clan
June 9, 2019
Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium – 36 Chambers 25th Anniversary Celebration

AUDIO DOWNLOAD: FLAC TORRENT

Shure MV88 > iPhone 7 > Motiv Audio App > 16/44 WAV > CD Wave Editor (tracking) > FLAC

01. Cut Throat City trailer
02. Intro
03. Bring Da Ruckus
04. Shame On A Nigga
05. Killa Beez On The Swarm
06. Clan In Da Front
07. Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber
08. Run [Cappadonna]
09. Can It Be All So Simple
10. Da Mystery of Chessboxin’
11. Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit
12. C.R.E.A.M.
13. Method Man
14. Tearz
15. Protect Ya Neck
16. Come Together [The Beatles] >
17. Reunited
18. Severe Punishment
19. Duel of the Iron Mic [GZA]
20. Mary Jane [Rick James] >
21. Ice Cream [Raekwon]
22. ??? (with unknown MC)
23. Bring The Pain [Method Man]
24. Allah Mathematics Solo
25. 4th Chamber [GZA]
26. Shimmy Shimmy Ya [Ol’ Dirty Bastard] >
27. Got Your Money [Ol’ Dirty Bastard]
28. Gravel Pit
29. Duel To The Death Intro > Triumph
30. Cherchez LaGhost [Ghostface Killah]

RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, Cappadonna & Young Dirty Bastard with DJ Allah Mathematics.

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal @ Chicago’s Double Door – March 10, 2012

Last weekend I had the pleasure of finally witnessing The Robert Glasper Experiment do their thing. Although drummer Chris “Daddy” Dave wasn’t on this tour, replacement Mark Colenburg more than held his own. (As I knew he would after I saw him play with The Robert Glasper Trio last month in St. Louis. Don’t miss my audio recording of that here.)

On this chilly Chicago night, special guest Bilal joined the Experiment for 3 tunes: the David Bowie cover, Letter To Hermione, the J Dilla produced Reminisce, and his seminal piece, All Matter. On top of that, the Experiment played for well over 2 hours without a break. One of the highlights for me was Glasper repeatedly teasing Radiohead‘s Everything In Its Right Place during this 6 minute piano solo, which led into All Matter. I ended up shooting 48 minutes of footage using my video camera, external microphone and monopod. Check it out below:

The Robert Glasper Experiment
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Butterfly (Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters cover):

The Robert Glasper Experiment
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Lift Off (inc. drum solos):

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Reminisce:

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Piano solo (inc. Everything In Its Right Place teases) > All Matter:

The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
All Matter (continued):

The Robert Glasper Experiment:
Robert Glasper: keys
Casey Benjamin: saxophones, keytar, vocoder, keys
Derrick Hodge: bass
Mark Colenburg: drums
+ special guest Bilal: vocals

Full setlist: A Love Supreme (John Coltrane cover), A Tear To A Smile (Roy Ayers cover), Butterfly (Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters cover), Letter To Hermione (David Bowie cover) (with Bilal), Lift Off (inc. drum solos), Bass solo > Say Yes (Floetry cover), Cherish The Day (Sade cover), Reminisce (with Bilal), Piano solo (w/ Everything In It’s Right Place teases) > All Matter (with Bilal), Ah Yeah > Drum solo > Smells Like Teen Spirit

If you made it this far, then you’re probably interested in the other Robert Glasper recordings I’ve been posting lately:
(1) these 3/20/12 Experiment Chicago videos
(2) 2/27/12 Experiment WNYC radio session audio here
(3) Experiment with Roy Ayers & Pete Rock @ North Sea Jazz Fest last year here
and
(4) there are 2 other goodies, but you’ll have to search my facebook page for it (hint: March 3rd).