As we are in the midst of Dilla Month, artists and fans worldwide are paying their respects to the late J Dilla.  With a myriad of high profile tribute shows going on in NYC this week, who would have thought that 3 NYU students would end up putting on the best homage performance at a laid back college hangout in Brooklyn.  But thats exactly what took place this past Thursday night as Storm Siegel (drums), Dave Mainella (piano) and Evan Crane (bass), collectively known as the jazz trio Stray Phrases, performed Donuts in its entirety at The Tea Lounge in Park Slope.  In October of last year, the trio played their rendition of Donuts at a small bar in NYC- a performance that was more popular online thanks to a recording posted by the good folks at Metal Lungies.  With the recent online buzz and Dilla’s anniversary approaching, the group held an encore show and masterfully interpreted the album once again.  There are countless Dilla tributes, but trust us when we say Stray Phrases’ is head over heels above the rest and is well worth your time.  ATWL is proud to offer our recording of the entire set.

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Revive Da Live put on what will go down as one of the best concerts of the year when they presented their latest installment of their Flagship Series at Le Poisson Rouge, titled “Hip Hop 1942″.  The premise of the show being was to perform jazz standards and seamlessly blend them into classic hip-hop songs that sampled the original.  It was a beautiful night of music from some of the best underground jazz musicians in the NYC area and the emcee duties were handled by John Robison, Raydar Ellis and Phonte (of Little Brother / The Foreign Exchange).  Here is their Dilla tribute, which included “The Official”,  “Fall In Love” and “Diana In The Autumn Wind”, with the trio of emcees freesyling, creating a jazzy hip-hop bliss.  If you live in NYC, you need to start checking out Revive Da Live’s concerts- you will not be disappointed.

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