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Having taken his talents on the turntables to noble heights—the top of the battle circuit in Montreal and through countless venues and festivals—Montreal’s Annam Lê, aka DJ Mana, is eager to explore uncharted territories where his live performance can grow. With his latest project, Mosaics, partly a research project for his studies at Concordia, the two-time Montreal DMC champion and founder of the DJ School Soul Mechanics invited some of his favourite local hip hop performers to join him under one umbrella, including Killa Jewel, Zardak, John Rist, Brace, Shades of Culture’s D-Shade and Orion Re-evolution Curiel, Lady Katalyst, Sir Bastard and Johnny Know Love. “All the musicians in this project have worked with me in the past,” Mana says. “I chose them on the basis of skill and artistic chemistry. Everyone has a different style. I put the set together in a way that mixes this multitude of styles in a coherent fashion.” Back in 2005, Mana developed the group Microtone Kitchen, some members of which are joining him for Mosaics. Microtone Kitchen was a step in his quest to establish the turntable as a bona fide instrument, exploring the many avenues, beyond the tricks that everybody knows, that one can follow with them. “I’m interested in turntables as live instruments. I’d rather make the crowd go crazy about what I am doing to the turntables than about what song is being played—although a combination of both is always good.” At the Mosaics performance, Mana says, “You can expect harmonic mixing, scratching, beat juggling, live MPC drumming, live keys, live guitar and live vocals. This performance will be experienced as one piece rather than a multitude of pieces. The whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.” The event will also be a salute to Simon Lortie, a charismatic promoter, performer and community organizer who passed away two years ago and who many considered an important figure in the Montreal hip hop scene. AT LE BELMONT TONIGHT, THURSDAY, |
