Fat Freddy’s Drop were the headliners at Gilles Peterson’s Awards show back in 2005.  This show was actually my first introduction to the band and the rest is history.  FFD will be making their debut in the United States with their first ever shows lined up on the west coast in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.  I already booked my trip and if you truly love live music, I would advise you do the same. Here is their entire set from the Gilles Peterson Award Show at Kokos in London.

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CunninLynguists perform “Nothing To Give” live with Club Dub @ the QN5 Megashow 2009  at Highline Ballroom, NYC.  This live version of the song will appear on their new album, Strange Journey Volume Two, which will be released next week.

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One of the spotlight events of the CMJ festival last week was the Elitaste x Nue Agency x Puma showcase at SOB’s.  Rising star  Mike Posner headlined the event, along with his go-to buddy rapper, Big Sean.  Rounding out the lineup was the elcectic Theophilus London, Camp Lo, 2Am Club, Brandon Hines and the New Yorker magazine’s favorite new rapper, Freddie Gibbs.  Check out some soundboard audio highlights of the night, as well as a recap video of the evening from 5846 Films (full performance vids coming soon).

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Brother Ali took the stage in Paris last month and the good people at Grand Crew were in the building to film it for the masses.  Enjoy their video of the entire concert after the jump.

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Earlier this week, Talib Kweli became the latest hip-hop icon to be celebrated at Peter Rosenberg’s interview/concert series, Noisemakers.  Previous featured Noisemakers guests include DJ Premier, Questlove, Q-Tip and Raekwon.  If you’re not familiar with the event by now, Rosenberg accurately describes it as the hip-hop Inside The Actor’s Studio, featuring an in-depth interview and live sets by Daru Jones and The Noise performing impeccable live interpretations of Kweli’s vast catalog.  What makes Noisemakers so enthralling is that this is not just any standard interview, but rather an engaging hip-hop conversation.  Kweli shared tons of stories ranging from his childhood up through the current day including his first encounters with Dilla, Kanye West, Hi Tek, Corey Smith, Common and many other central figures in hip-hop.  He also told some hilarious stories about Kanye West and also there’s a brief cameo by Q-Tip.  Check after the jump for audio of the entire evening, including the complete interview and live performance sets, plus a few videos.

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I was diggin through my archives tonight and decided it was time for a throwback to a seriously dope show.  Travel across the pond to the Jazz Cafe in London as Kano rocks a sold out crowd backed by a live band.  This show was around the time of the release of London Town, so the majority of the setlist is from that album, but he does bring it back to his earlier stuff to close out the show.  This show was a part of the BBC Electric Proms series, so the recording comes courtesy of a radio rip from the BBC broadcast.

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Soil & Pimp Sessions are easily one of my favorite bands on the planet and this is a prime example why.  Joined by British singer, Jamie Cullum, the Japanese death-jazz innovators delve into an amazing cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Tell Me A Bedtime Story”.  I was introduced to Soil & Pimp’s unique approach to jazz when I first heard them on Gilles Peterson’s BBC radio show back in 2005 and I immediately bought all their albums.   Coincidentally, they are now signed to Peterson’s independent label, Brownswood Recordings, and recently released their sixth album last month, aptly titled “6″.  Enjoy this 20 min soundboard recording from the BBC’s Electric Proms, which includes the Hancock cover and some crazy jamming.

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From the Current TV website: “On this special hour-long Embedded, Mos Def takes us on an all access seven-day tour of Japan while he performs his new album “The Ecstatic” to packed venues in Tokyo and Osaka. During that week, he hits up the Harajuku fashion district, whoops it up at a sumo wrestling match, and gets a personal tour of the Tokyo Giants stadium from his friend and baseball phenom Mark Kroon. Then, he brilliantly ties it all together by divulging the history of great thinkers known as “ecstatics,” showing that he is clearly one of the most insightful men in hip-hop.”

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