The Witzard

Let me just start out by saying that I've been a die-hard Roots fan for about 10 years now, since The Tipping Point (2004). But after seeing The Legendary Roots Crew LIVE @ House of Blues last night [Dec. 28th], while their frequently-released studio albums are great sounding, they pale in comparison to the band's FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC stage show. We're talking about a gang of Classically -trained musicians playing blazin' solos and breaks... synchronized Motown dance routines throughout and when drummer ?uestlove accidentally pummeled into the wrong beat mid-song, he and his Philly -bred buddies just laughed it off and kept going. The best damn thing about a Roots show is the sheer unexpected, versatility of the material to pull from - Nearly 14 records -worth of Hip-Hop/Deep Soul , a feat which most seasoned Rock "N" Roll bands couldn't even rival. Black Thought & ?uestlove proceeded to lead bandmates Captain Kirk, Tuba Gooding Jr., Frank...

Jack Davey is pretty widely known as the fashion-forward, genre-blending frontwoman of "Hip-Hop" group J*Davey , but now she's decided to branch out on her own... forging a solo career as a slightly more Rock "N" Roll -tinged sultry Funk-Soul songstress. Fresh off the heels of their long-awaited and [finally] self-released proper album, New Designer Drug and following the birth of her new-born son, Davey is readying her solo debut in 2 distinct parts; ILLAV8R is planning to liberate L0-F! Side A on Oct. 2nd, which Jack Davey simply describes as "a girl, her shitty guitar, and introspective songwriting." It's follow-up, Side B will see a Nov. 6th release, feature more instrumentation/advanced guitar techniques, and was produced by Joey Strat of The Knux . L0-F! Parts 1-2 will then be re-released together in a DELUXE edition with 3 bonus tracks on Dec. 11th! "Howl at The Moon" mysteriously appeared in my Inbox late yesterday ...