LA EVENTS: Grand Performances Kicks Off with Mark de Clive-Lowe!

LA Babies, one of our favorite FREE summer events kicks off this Friday in Downtown Los Angeles! Grand Performances, a non-profit organization that brings us free outdoor concerts under the summer sky every Friday and Saturday night through the end of August is kicking off this year’s summer calendar with Mark de Clive-Lowe!

L.A.-based, Japanese New Zealander composer, producer and DJ Mark de Clive-Lowe (MdCL) is no stranger to conceptual performances. Riding in his own musical spaceship of keyboards, drum machines, electronics, and effects, MdCL will be joined by acclaimed musicians Walter Smith III and Jamire Williams (ERIMAJ), improvising a live soundtrack to a big-screen montage of sci-fi movie scenes, interpolated and remixed live by VJ Steve Nalepa – creating a completely original and improvised narrative led by music and soundscapes. Details are as follows:

Grand Performances at the California Plaza

350 S. Grand Ave | Los Angeles, CA 90071

Parking:

351 S. Olive St | Los Angeles, CA 90071

California Plaza parking rates are $7.50 (cash only) starting 2 hours before evening Grand Performances events. The garage is best accessed from Olive Street between 1st and 4th Streets.

Get there early and bring blankets, sweaters, snacks and beverages! See you there!

 

Nia Andrews: Colours EP Available Now!

Last year we caught up with singer-songwriter Nia Andrews, and at that time she had completed penning a few tracks on Mark de Clive-Lowe’s critically-acclaimed album, Renegades. However, we knew Nia was at work on her own music project and we are happy to annouce its arrival!

Nia started her career in the music scene as an internationally touring background singer with heavy-hitters such as Janelle Monae, Lauryn Hill, and Common. She has penned vocals for underground phenoms including Blu, Joi Starr and Shafiq Husayn. Now with her debut EP, COLOURS, American singer/songwriter Nia Andrews is ready to take center stage.

From having graced the microphone behind Mary J. Blige or Bruno Mars at the Grammys, to leaving her raw emotion on the mic every month at a speakeasy in Venice or a smoky dive in New York (at the critically- acclaimed live-music event, CHURCH, by founder Mark de Clive-Lowe where Andrews is resident), the Los Angeles native heralds the many colors of her journey on her four-song debut.

Collaborating with Golden Globe nominated songwriter Andrea Remanda and producer Deron JohnsonColours emerged from a sequence of writing sessions between this dynamic trio of very different writers. Together they have created an emotive, unified sound. An avid fan of Joni Mitchell’s lyricism and the arrangements of Charles Stepney, Andrews’ voice divulges her soul, jazz and folk roots, balanced with the lyrical ingenuity of the greats she reveres.

It’s a unique palette of both power and vulnerability; Colours transports the listener with the dreamy world that it paints.

Track Listing:

1. Colours

2. Made in America

3. Notes on a History

4. The Lovers

+ Digital Booklet

Available now via BandcampiTunes and digital outlets worldwide.


A Chat With Nia Andrews (AUDIO)

Nia Andrews is quite the enchantress.

I had the good fortune of befriending Nia in college, the period where she was still honing her magic and though in its infancy, it was still pretty potent. Nia was the type of woman that traveled with a cloak of “feel good” wrapped around her, a feeling that left a lasting impression, and I recall a sense of bliss whenever we were in a common space. We connected on our shared affinity of the written word, music, art and life.

Fast forward a decade. Reconnecting with Nia put me in front of a woman who had come into her own. The magic remained, but had now evolved into something unsurprisingly extraordinary. Nia, always a writer, planted her feet in songwriting, took root there and her talent as both a writer and a singer has the attention of the music industry. On the horizon will be her greatest songwriting achievement to date: four tracks on international music artist, Mark de Clive-Lowe‘s latest album, Renegades. A sample of Nia’s work on this beautifully crafted project whets any good music lover’s appetite and makes one wonder what’s to come on Nia’s own album that is currently in the works.

Further, Nia and Mark co-host the Los Angeles event, CHURCH, a must-attend for any real music head. With Nia before the mic and Mark behind it , CHURCH is an enchanting live music experience that is incomparable to any other in the city. Deep into the night, CHURCH turns into a cold jam session/body rock – and you never know which of your favorite artists might end up in the house and on stage.

Born and raised in Inglewood, CA, Nia manages to handle this full plate while also maintaining the role of mother –  and speaks to us about how her life journey has led her to this place, the projects that she’s currently involved in and what’s next for her. Listen up!

LA EVENTS: Soul Sessions

If  you are looking to get your boogie on and hear some truly good music then Soul Sessions is where you need to be next Friday, March 25th. With special dj sets by Vikter Duplaix and Mark De Clive-Lowe, this event is sure to be and end of the week body rock. Details are as follows:

Soul Sessions

3.25.11

Grand Starr Jazz Club

943 N. Broadway, DTLA 90012 (Parking at 419 W. College St.)

9pm -2 am

$5 before 10:30

$3 drink specials before 11

Be there!

LA EVENTS: The Ursula Rucker “She Said” Tour

LA Babies, if you haven’t heard the spoken word of Ursula Rucker, it’s time you get acquainted. Experience her during the “She Said” Tour, featuring guests Sy Smith, Mark De Clive-Lowe, Open Mike Eagle, and DJ Jedi. This event will take place next Wednesday, January 26th at Zanzibar in Santa Monica. Details are as follows:

The Ursula Rucker “She Said” Tour

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

at ZANZIBAR. 1301 5th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (corner of 5th and Arizona)

9pm – 2am

21+

$15 cover

For advanced tickets: http://templebarconcepts.tickets.musictoday.com/TempleBarConcepts/calendar.aspx

I’ll see you there…