The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Week
Monday, July 30
Chrysta Bell -- see Thursday
Big K.R.I.T.
EL REY THEATRE
The South rises again in the form of Big K.R.I.T. ("king remember in time"), a marvelously dexterous rapper-producer from Mississippi who insists that it's "Cool 2 Be Southern" on his debut full-length CD, Live From the Underground. He has produced key tracks by Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y and collaborated with the likes of Big Boi, Chamillionaire, Joi and David Banner, but his own music is dizzyingly diverse and hard to pin down to just one style. "I Got This" recalls Big Boi's rapid-fire delivery on OutKast's "Bombs Over Baghdad," but Big K.R.I.T. segues into cool soul grooves like "Porchlight," the slinky R&B of "Hydroplaning" and the kinky funk of "What U Mean," as well as such stranger spells as the contemplative idyll "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." The former Justin Scott also can kick up a ruckus on such songs as "My Sub (Pt. 2: The Jackin')," and he trips the light fantastic on the spacey tune "LFU300MA." He throws a hell of a get-down live, the sort that's guaranteed to rouse even the most blasé city slicker. --Falling James
Josh Nelson
VITELLO'S
Like baseball, it's common in modern jazz circles to assume all the best players end up in New York. This pianist from Long Beach helps push back against this Yankee narrative, for he made it somewhere without making it where Sinatra said he needed to go. Being Natalie Cole's personal pianist certainly helps, but so does becoming one of the best jazz pianists in the world, including NYC. With an absurdly effortless virtuosity, matched by his unlimited imagination, Josh Nelson seemingly can conjure up any musical idea and execute it flawlessly with a cherry on top. Part of his monthly "Discovery Sessions" series (which includes interesting spontaneous painting by Claudia Carballada), this show features the brilliant saxophone player Ben Wendel, whom Josh really needs to convince to move back to L.A. --Gary Fukushima
Tuesday, July 31
HOTT MT, Oh Boy Les Mecs
ECHO
L.A.'s own HOTT MT are right now riding on a benevolent wave made of equal parts mystery and hype. The latter is due to the fact that, after driving to Oklahoma on a whim and landing on the porch of Wayne Coyne (on his birthday, no less), they managed to get the head Flaming Lip to record on one of their fuzz-fueled, synth-psyched songs. The former is, well, because no one knows who the hell these brass-ballin' weirdos are. With names like Ashi Dala, Spooky Tavi and Bad Bahd, the trio cultivates an air of enigma that suits its strangely surfy experimental dance tracks. They call their music "Thai gaze," but the airy, gushing vocals of their female lead (Ashi) seem much farther flung -- from another planet, perhaps? Oh Boy Les Mecs is local, too, peddling a Björk-y mix of electronics and emotion. --Chris Martins
Location Info
Venue
Map
El Rey Theatre
5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Category: Music
|
0 user reviews
|
Write A Review |
| Save to foursquare |
|
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
