Brooklyn Sound Lab

It’s one of the few genuine hip-hop bands that is able to cross over and play all the major rock clubs in town as well as other places like the House of Blues and the noted reggae club the Western Front in Cambridge. The Down Low Connection could, in fact, become the only hip-hop band to emerge from our scene and gain national attention.

This city is hardly known as the home of hip-hop, but if the Down Low Connection has it’s way, people will get the word soon enough.  The Down Low’s good grooves mix a deep, bombastic rhythm section; sweet soulful horns; and top flight MC’s to create some flavorful hip-hop spiced with jazz overtones… The act’s members believe that through their music of inclusion, they can make a difference and help heal the racial divisions that have plagued Boston for years.

AES Presentation :: B03 – Deconstructing Binaural MacBeth

Live @ The Dolby Theater (NYC) :: SE10 – AUDIO Tonight: A Story-Tellers Cabaret

In addition to the high musicianship and the individual creativity, what are most notable about this recording are the group’s distinctive sound and the creative arrangements.

Our friend Emily C. Chang passes along this crazy-ass music video she created with her producing partner Ray Archie for the song “Need You Near (The Happy Nunchucks Song), “ which appears on the indie film Colin Hearts Kay. Hot stuff, with some great production values (not to mention that Emily looks crazy good). See her dance with cartoons and tear the heads off teddy bears:

NYC Ballet Principals Set for Private, Immersive Dance Event CHRYSALIS in Brooklyn

Down Low Connection aren’t just Boston’s best live hip-hop experience. If they wanted to, they could probably compete for Boston’s best funk band title as well.

The DLC are back in full effect, ready to sign the deal and cash the check…They are true architects of the craft.

...slowly fading into this impromptu performance like a DJ blending a record...

http://www.shadrackmusic.org/reviews/AtticusShadrackCole-Formula1b.pdf

“Indeed, the malleability and virtuosity of this impressive live hip-hop enterprise… are its greatest strengths.”

…few will remember an early ‘80’s crop that yielded “Wild Style,” a ground-breaking, graffiti film that captured the neighborhood origins of New York rap music. Electric with the energy of community and connection, Wild Style showed how great soul-to-soul, rapper-to-rapper immediacy could turn a corner pub into the coolest of scenes. Thursday nights at the Western Front on Prospect St. in Cambridge, a long-standing club known mostly for its commitment to reggae, the Down Low Connection hosts live rap-jazz-funk-blues sessions that recall the Wild Style vibe.

Down Low Connection is exploring some interesting combinations — hip hop with Indian raga and classical, John Coltrane jazz with George Clinton funk … ‘We want to be with what’s happening now but integrate different cultural styles. We want to pick up where the great funk bands of the ‘70’s left off.’