Questlove DJing

Friday night's celebrity telethon Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief has so far raised more than $57 million - a record for a disaster relief telethon, said the event's organizers.

In addition the star-studded Hope for Haiti Now album, featuring performances from the evening, is the biggest one-day album pre-order in iTunes history.

The charity event, spearheaded by George Clooney with the support of many of Hollywood's A-listers, featured two hours of musical performances and appeals for donations for earthquake relief. [People]

One of the performers in attendance was Questlove, who backed Mary J Blige and others during the broadcast. Last Thursday, Questlove kicked off a four-week Thursday night DJing residency at Brooklyn Bowl, with guest DJs Talib Kweli and Q-Tip to benefit Haiti. Tickets are on sale for the next three Thursdays (1/28, 2/4, 2/11) (which don't appear to be benefits).

Questlove and The Roots were set to headline Music Hall of Williamsburg's N. 6th for Haiti concert on Wedesday, January 27th. Also on that bill was Kaki King, Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 with John Scofield, very special guest Matisyahu and others, but... that show has been CANCELLED.

Not cancelled: The Haiti benefit happening at The Bell House on Wednesday night, and the fourth and final one at City Winery tonight (1/25). We also had a great one (with over $20,000 raised) at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday.

Hopefully the current messy state of NBC late-night won't affect the Roots and Questlove and their regular stint on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Last week the show paired the Roots with Antibalas and the cast of Fela! (a show Questlove associate produced), which you can catch on Broadway. That video, clips from Friday's Haiti telethon and more Questlove videos are below...

Continue reading "Questlove DJ residency @ Brooklyn Bowl + past, future & CANCELLED Haiti benefits - dates & videos "

Bon Iver in a graveyard in Sept. (more by Darren Kim)

tonight in NYC
* Kid Cudi @ Irving Plaza
* Spoon & Mahogany @ Mercury Lounge
* Spacecamp, Your Nature @ Coco66
* Akoya Afrobeat @ Knitting Factory
* Questlove (DJ), Q-Tip (DJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* MNDR, Zambri, Tayisha Busay @ Glasslands
* Vetiver, Avi Buffalo, Inlets @ The Bell House
* Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) & Steve Kimock @ Merkin Concert Hall
* Darlings, Lonnie Walker, Motel Motel, Gunfight @ Union Pool
* Free Energy, Eastern Midwestern, pow wow!, Neighbors @ Pianos
* Signal Break, Sunshower Orphans, Mr. Dream, NT Trio @ Cake Shop
* Langhorne Slim, April Smith & the Great Picture Show @ Maxwell's
* Dub Is a Weapon, Bigga Mention, Rob Symeonn @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Vampire Weekend, Kwame Dawes (author) @ Barnes & Noble Union Square
* Lady GaGa, Jason Derulo, Semi Precious Weapons @ Radio City Music Hall
* Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Supercute, Julia Weldon @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Support Haiti Benefit w/ Lewis Black, Vernon Reid & Corey Glover of Living Colour, Rich Pagano & The Sugarcane Cups, Marshall Crenshaw, David Johansen @ City Winery

Vampire Weekend appear at Barnes & Noble tonight with Kwame Dawes. Expect a line.

Spoon announced that some tickets will be available at the door for tonight's Mercury Lounge show. Expect a line.

Lightspeed Champion is not playing Bowery Ballroom tonight.

Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver appears as part of the NY Guitar Festival tonight. You can catch him in Ohio in April.

Tonight's Cake shop show, put on by Music vs. Hunger, benefits Haiti relief. Questlove and Q-Tip DJ at Brooklyn Bowl for Haiti, too.

Various new videos below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Snowball fight in Times Square - 12/19/09 (Doug Kim)

tonight in NYC
* Danielson @ The Stone
* Questlove (DJ) @ S.O.B.'s
* Chico Mann @ Knitting Factory
* M6 performs Meredith Monk @ The Stone
* Jadakiss, Melanie Fiona, Clipse @ Highline Ballroom
* Christmas Rap party w/ 1000TimesYes @ Bruar Falls
* My Favorite Things, Neoangin, Sugarlife, Misty Roses @ Zebulon
* Rene Lopez, Brooklyn Girls Sound System, Jason Darling @ Mercury Lounge
* Masta Ace & Edo G, Sadat X, Jean Grae, Doitall, Torae w/ DJ E Holla, Sha Stimuli & secret guest @ Southpaw
* Drink Up Buttercup, True Womanhood, The Art of Shooting, Schocholautte, Total Slacker @ Glasslands

Everyone playing the later show at Mercury Lounge tonight is either in, or collaborates with members of, Brazilian Girls.

"S.O.B.'s Presents: 4th Annual Holiday Party w/ DJ QUESTLOVE (of the World Famous Roots Crew)"

"Celestial Soul Portraits"

"The proposed merger of two live music giants, Live Nation Inc and Ticketmaster Inc, was given a huge boost on Tuesday when a British regulatory body dropped its objections and approved the deal." [Reuters]

Chris Weingarten tweets his 1000th review of the year at midnight from Bruar Falls. Flyer below...

Listen to Julian Casablancas' "I wish it was Christmas today", with other videos, below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

"omfg!!!!! watching tune-yards on stage now. this is some of the GREATEST ish I've seen in a minute!!!!" - Questlove

tUnE-YaRdS blew away Questlove (and everyone) while he was waiting to join the Dirty Projectors on stage on 11/22. A set of pictures from her opening set at that Bowery Ballroom show are in this post.

Her next show is her only scheduled one that I know about, and it takes place in NYC on December 23rd at The Stone. She goes on at 10pm after an 8pm set by her sister Ruth Garbus ("Formerly of the group Feathers, and currently of Happy Birthday, Ruth Garbus has been spending most of her time making songs in Vermont. She comes south to share her lilting and penetrating music for voice and electric guitar.")

The Bowery show with The Roots was the last show of a tour for tUnE-YaRdS and Dirty Projectors. It was also the fourth of four NYC shows in a row. Two were at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and the first was also at Bowery Ballroom. More pictures from the last, below...

Continue reading "tUnE-YaRdS - QuestLOVE, another show & pics from Bowery"

Questlove, The Roots & Fallon in the Thanksgiving Day Parade (toolsdrummer)

What else?

by BBG

Antibalas in Philly on 6/6 (more by Tim Griffin)

Much like The Roots, who they shared the stage with at The Roots Picnic in June, have been doing lately, Antibalas will play a NYC residency. Theirs will take place at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn over four Thursdays in December (they exclude Dec 24th), culminating in a New Years Eve show. Tickets are on sale for the 12/3 show, the 12/10, the 12/17 and the New Years Eve show. Antibalas is also scheduled to appear at the Winter's Eve Festival on 11/30 along with Joy Behar. Yes, that one.

Members of Antibalas are also notably a part of the Broadway musical FELA! based on the life of the Afrobeat legend, and produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith/Jada Pinkett-Smith.

A provocative hybrid of dance and Broadway musical, FELA! features the Afrobeat music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a book by Jim Lewis... arrangements by Aaron Johnson and Antibalas with direction and choreography by Tony® Award winner Bill T. Jones...
FELA! uses stirring Afrobeat music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), to tell the story of Kuti's controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. Featuring many of Fela Kuti's most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones's visionary staging, FELA! is the most original new musical on Broadway.

Some related videos below...

Continue reading "Antibalas are playing mutliple shows @ Knitting Factory & are in the Fela! musical (for which they offer a coupon)"

Dirty Projectors completed their tour and four-night NYC run in style on Sunday (11/22). The evening started with a beautiful set of music by Julianna Barwick who was followed by the mind-blowing Tune-Yards. It's been said before, I'll say it again. Merrill Garbus is an extremely talented girl and the crowd went nuts for her as she looped and strummed and drummed and sang. Backed by a bassist, her performance was even more special because her parents were in the crowd. She mentioned them a few times and even thanked them at the end for having her.

I'd been hearing rumors about special guests possibly joining the Dirty Projectors at some point this week, but nothing happened at the first three shows (1 at Bowery and 2 at Music Hall of Williamsburg). Then Sunday the rumors started getting louder, especially the one about The Roots showing up.

The Roots and Dirty Projectors first met when DP were the musical guests at Fallon. Questlove was in love. Some thought that DP were going to join the Roots at a show in Brooklyn a few days after that TV appearance, but it never happened. It did this time though. Three members of the Roots, Questlove included, joined the band on stage for two songs ("Stillness" and "No Intention" I think?). The show was already great before that, but everyone went so wild and was dancing like crazy when the Roots came out. The energy in the room was off the charts, and stayed in the air even after the guests left the stage. The band was supercharged too as they finished their pre-encore set in one of the strongest ways I've ever seen them play.

During the short encore break another microphone was brought to the stage. At that point I knew there was no question that David Byrne would be joining Dirty Projectors once again (it previously happened at least two times - at the Dark Was the Night charity concert and then again at Bonnaroo). Sure enough, Mr. Byrne helped them end the two song encore with a slightly-unrehearsed version of Knotty Pine (the song he and the band wrote together for the Dark Was the Night album).

Amazing night. More pictures of the headliner and guests and the setlist below..

Continue reading "David Byrne & The Roots joined Dirty Projectors @ Bowery Ballroom Sunday night - pics & setlist"

i gots to be the golden child. survived yet another car crash unscathed. the cab however....3:54 AM Oct 4th from mobile web - Questlove

The Roots & friends @ Brooklyn Bowl (10/1) (more by Tim Griffin)

There are only two more Roots shows scheduled at Highline Ballroom in NYC, and tickets are on sale for both (November 10 & November 17)

The October 6th, 13th and 27th dates have been canceled, and tickets purchased for those three shows will work at either one of the November shows. According to the venue, Jimmy Fallon's house band also have no more dates planned there (for now?).

The Roots join Common at Terminal 5 TONIGHT (10/7). It's a Hennessey party. Hopefully Questlove's hand is doing better.

Last week The Roots moved the show to Brooklyn for one night. Another video from that show (where they were joined by Mayer Hawthorne), below...

Continue reading "The Roots Highline residency ending? ++ Terminal 5 tonight"

based on their setup and sound....imma take a wild guess dirty projectors are from BK? -?uestlove

backstage @ the Fallon show - 9/28/09 (Brassland)

Dirty Projectors were on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night where they premiered a new song called "When the World Comes to an End." Before that, they performed acoustically backstage. That earlier part wasn't aired on TV, but ?uestlove, a member of Jimmy's house band The Roots, was there recording with his iPhone (see above), and posted a video to his Twitter where he wrote, "Man. Dirty Projectors came into our room and demonstrated their awesomeness. How cool is it for them to do this?". He then Tweeted it again with the message, "dirty projectors really became a fav of mine after today" (both of those notes came an hour or two after the Tweet quoted at the very top of this post). Both videos below.

?uestlove, in addition to appearing on Fallon like he does every day, will be playing tonight (9/29) at the free Wizard of Oz show/screening in Central Park (with Jennifer Hudson and others). Then, as you can hear him tell DP in the below video, the Roots play Thursday night (10/1) at Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn. Tickets are still on sale

Dirty Projectors are playing, what we now know is a short four-song set, at the New Yorker Fest's "Bands from the County of Kings" show at the Bell House on Friday, October 16th. Also on the bill are House of Ladosha, Jubilee and Liturgy. Tickets are still on sale.

Dirty Projectors then go out on tour from the end of October through most of November. It ends with four full NYC shows on 11/18-11/22 (with no show on the 20th). Recent 4AD signee tUnE yArDs has been added as opener to all of those shows, and to the entire last two weeks of their tour. She (tUnE) also has more gigs before then, including non-NYC shows with Sunset Rubdown and a Brooklyn show on October 6th at Union Hall with Dragons of Zynth.

All videos and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors played a new song on Fallon, performed backstage for ?uestlove (both videos), tUnE yArDs & stuff "

by Andrew Frisicano

The Wizard of Oz is being re-released on DVD September 29th. Why should you care? Because that's also the same day a free outdoor event is happening in Central Park to celebrate it (it's also the film's 70th anniversary). At the show (whick kicks off at Rumsey Playfield at 7:30 p.m. ET), ?uestlove (of The Roots), Jennifer Hudson, Julianne Hough, Bilal, "and a band assembled especially for the show" will be performing contemporary interpretations of classic songs from the film. That will be followed by a screening of the flick on a giant inflatable screen (rain location TBA if it rains).

Of course, if you're only interested in the Roots, you can always shell out for the cover at their Highline Ballroom residency (though it should be noted, their Sept. 29th performance has been canceled). If you prefer to never leave Brooklyn, the band is also playing a Thursday, October 1st show at Brooklyn Bowl. It only costs $10. Tickets are on sale.

For the Central Park show, we have a pair of VIP passes (not on sale) and a prize package from Netflix to give away. Details are below...

Continue reading "?uestlove & others playing w/ Wizard of Oz screening in Central Park (win VIP tix), Roots playing Brooklyn Bowl"

photos by Tim Griffin

"The marquee event [at this year's Roots Picnic - June 6, 2009 in Philly] was Public Enemy's performance of their epochal 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, performed for only the third - and, they have said, the last - time on American soil, and the first time with a band.

Public Enemy's Chuck D famously called rap music African Americans' CNN, an analogy that bodes ill for the exhumation of a 20-year-old album. But fueled by an expanded Roots lineup that included a horn section from the Brooklyn-based Afrobeat orchestra Antibalas, Nation sounded like anything but old news. Chuck D's stentorian voice has lost none of its power to command, and Flavor Flav washed away years of reality-TV embarrassment, seeming more like a sharp-witted jester than a fool.

Rather than approximating Nation's sonic thicket, the Roots added melody and depth. The prison-riot saga "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" gained a funk guitar riff and blaring horns, with ?uestlove's snare hits ringing out like rifle shots.
[Philadelpha Inquirer]

Continue reading "Public Enemy performed 'It Takes a Million' w/ Antibalas & The Roots @ the Roots Picnic in Philly - pics"

"The Roots will star as the [house] band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon! ...Don't worry, The Legendary aren't completely hanging up their hats for the day jobby job - there's still plenty of weekends and TV-vacation time for touring. But now, in addition to their stunning live show, you'll get to watch ?uesto and co. kick it EVERY week night- what's better than that?? We've heard talks of special guests, potential skits, and other exciting surprises, but you'll just have to tune in for all that. And you know OKP will have all sorts of ex-ex-ex-cluuusives, in addition to keeping you up to date on all that's going on Fallon-wise. [Okayplayer, December 2008]

The Roots are taking residency at Highline Ballroom in NYC, their new hometown. Entitled "The Jam", tickets are on sale for shows on March 5, March 19, March 23, March 31, April 14, April 21, May 4, May 13, May 18, May 26, June 2, June 10, June 16, and June 23. That's a lot of performances. And they each only cost $10. I'm also told there will be lots of varying special guests.

But that's not all: Questlove also has a residency of his own, entitled 'the fANtastic', at (Le) Poisson Rouge. That "will take place every Thursday night beginning March 26, 2009 at 11PM through May 28, 2009. Special guests to be announced weekly." Tickets are slightly more expensive than the full Roots show. You can buy them for March 26 HERE.

For more Questlove, you can hear him talk, TONIGHT, 2/11 @ 7pm, at 92YTribeca with Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg.

AND: The Roots will appear at Carnegie Hall on March 16th. The show is entitled "Ask Your Mama! Music by Laura Karpman, on a text by Langston Hughes", and The Roots are one of many on this one's lineup. Tickets for that are at CarnegieHall.com.

Wait, it's not over yet: The Roots are opening for the Dave Matthews Band at Madison Square Garden on April 14th, and then at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ one day after that.

Jimmy Fallon and the Roots star in the series of videos below...

Continue reading "Jimmy Fallon's house band THE ROOTS - 14 NYC shows @ Highline, 1 @ MSG, a Questlove LPR residency + Carnegie Hall"