The Legendary Roots Crew do it again...

Innovators in hip-hop, The Roots has focused on live instrumentation in recordings and concerts since 1987 when rapper Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) and drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) met at the Philadelphia High School for Creative Performing Arts. Forsaking the usual hip-hop protocol, The Roots' produced its first major-label album, Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995), without any samples or previously recorded material, and made a name for itself by defying genres and conventions. The group is known for its complex and politically aware lyrical content ranging from violence and its consequences to the crime, poverty, guns and drug culture plaguing its hometown of Philadelphia.

As a loyal fan, I've seen the Roots at least half a dozen times and I never saw the same show twice. In the tradition of musical innovation the Roots presented a series of performances call the "Roots Jam" which calls on hand picked cameos of emerging artists and a lots of surprises in between. Last night's show was inspiring and had me twitter crazy. Highlights included the explosive opening act by a collective of Phili MC's known as the 5th Dynasty,"the Phili Wu Tang" as Black Thought put it.


Mazzy Swift a female electric violinist had a solo so uplifting the lighting engineer must have had a seizure while holding the switches...it was electric!


A former keyboardist to Miles Davis was on deck and added psychedelic notes to the ensemble. Pharaoh Monch ripped the stage as did Virginia MC, Skills on a freestyle trip. A young Rwandan woman who jump onstage and owned it had the vibe of a young Grace Jones. That was hot. Chester French even joined in on now what was a hip hop orchestra. To close the show the crowd was thrown in jumping craze as Dead Prez ran up on stage and dropped their lyricist anthem "Its Bigger than Hip Hop"...ride or die.



It was an all out JAM!

The next "The Jam" session is scheduled for May 5th. Check it.

http://www.highlineballroom.com/calendar.php?month=5&year=2009

At your service...Yo.

The Boulevardist

Fitty Fitty, Spooky and the Elephants

Hello Hello,

This is not another rap band.


Last nights stroll was rather entertaining. Started off meeting a good friend for cocktails at famous Pegu Club in soho. I had the pleasure of sipping on what is called the Fitty-Fitty. This delicious cocktail was a spin on the classic Gin martini but the Gin to Dry vermouth was of course... 50/50. Added to that was a few drops of orange bitters that appeared simple but gave it complexity to ponder on. A contemporary remix of a sophisticated cocktail. We were soon joined by another friend who turned out to be a cocktail lover as well so we had a nice chat on all the interesting things happening in the cocktail world. Cocktail lovers are out there and we're multiplying daily...Nirvino.


We then cruised on over to Le Poisson Rouge where the tank in the entrance had orange fish in it...Ba-dum-bum. There the 6th edition of Pecha Kucha NY was held. This was my first time and I was very curious. Its goes like this(edited from their website):

They invite a dozen creative professionals working across a variety of fields to present 20 slides for 20 seconds each on whatever topic the speaker pleases. This format keeps presentations concise, interest levels up, and gives more people the chance to show their work and speak about their interests. Pecha Kucha is a Japanese phrase that translates as “the sound of conversation.” Pecha Kucha Night was devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham Architecture as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in Tokyo. Due to its popularity, Pecha Kucha Night has spread internationally to over a hundred cities.

There were quite a few topics I found interesting like Eric Sanderson's Mapping Mannahatta where he quickly and concisely talked about the ecological history of Mannahatta aka Manhattan up to what it is today. Did you know that Spring street actually had a spring running through it? The unexpected presentation was by Paul D. Miller aka Dj Spooky the Subliminal Kid. Spooky is one of my favorite Dj's who usually plays his heavy electronic sets with subliminal visuals in the background. Always trippy. His presentation was based on a large scale multimedia performance work that will be an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent called "Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica". Sinfonia Antarctica transforms Miller’s first person encounter with the harsh, dynamic landscape of Antarctica into multimedia portraits with music composed from the different geographies that make up the land mass. It's about the environment, sound, hip hop, electronic music and what it means to be a composer in the 21st century.

Totally "Spooky"

To end the night we met up with more friends to watch the Ringling Brothers circus parade into town. My good friend decided to call 311 for an ETA on the elephants because it was so brrrrick cold and they were half an hour late. The parade finally started around the odd hour of midnight where we got to see a caravan of elephants and clowns stomp their way out of the midtown tunnel and onto 34th street down to Madison Square Garden. It was one of those New York moments you just had to experience even if the thrill lasted a whole 3 minutes.

So there you have it, Fitty-Fitty, Spooky and the Elephants.

At your service,

The Boulevardist

Richie Rich Show - Fashion Week 2009

Now I'm not really big on fashion week but when you live in New York and like to go out, its not a bad idea to see whats going on in and around the tents. So my one and maybe only show this season was the Richie Rich show in the Waldorf Astoria Grand Ballroom last night and I can say I really got a taste of some of the excitement, not to mention all the neon colors that are making a comeback.

Former Heatherette Richie Rich and old school club kid jester debuts his new line, under his own namesake. The collection may have been long in planning, but the show appeared to be quickly thrown together. I found it very amusing on the way through the Waldorf Astoria with its typically old money and very snooty clientele to watch the expressions of their guests as club kids, drag queens and yes, Ice T with Coco parade on by to the show. The looks were priceless.

The opening acts were a bit of a spectacle yet much more fun than your typical walk down the runway. It opened with a tin soldier announcing an opera singers rendition of "Send in the clowns" backed by a pianist, followed by ballet dancers in bow ties and tuxedo pants. Think chippendales do Swan Lake. Next Kat Deluna performs one of her dance tracks in somewhat of a flat performance. There was'nt a smooth transition between the Swan Lake performance to hers to get the energy pumping. Yet the dresses, pants and other garments were remarkably stayed with a strong mix of commercial (not in a bad way), trend orientated (sight the eighties) and editorial.

My favorite part of the show happened at the end when Pamela Anderson popped out in a gold bathing suit covered in glittering flowers and blew kisses to the crowd followed by Richie Rich on roller skates. It was pretty damn cute.

I just got word that I'm on the list for the V party tonight. I guess fashion week isnt over for me yet.

At your service,

The Boulevardist

Giant Step w/ Victor Duplaix and on...

Last night I got to shake a tail feather at the last Giant Step dance party of the year. Since spring, Giant Step records brought in a guest Dj once a month and took over the Hudson bar in an invite only event for their e-subscribers. For the final party they brought in Kervyn Mark and Kamala with Viktor Duplaix as the headliner so I knew we were in for some good soulful house music. I happen to come in on Kamala's set and the current track was so hot, it sent me straight to the dance floor, kickin. I love walking into a party like that! Viktor Duplaix jumped on and worked it with his smooth style mixed in with a little afro and brazilian beats. I've been hearing more Dj's mix Baile funk into their sets which encourages lots of hip movement and is so much fun to dance to. After all the holiday eating I've been doing, this was the perfect party to work it out and I'm sure I was'nt the only one feeling this way. I also noticed a nice handful of Dj's in the house for this one which usually suggests the Dj line up is good. A few to mention that I bumped into were my boys Obah and Cato of the Manjinga parties, Nickodemus, Talib Kweli (who I caught the other night, no comment) and Taboo of the Soul Summit parties.

After that party our crew felt the tequila in our blood was pumpin too hard to stop, so we made our way back downtown to Mr West where the sound system PUMPED! The Dj had the new Common track Universal Mind Control on and it sounded hot. I was wondering if they kept the same system from space's former incarnation Opus 22 by the same techs that put together Cielo's. Oddly enough, during the course of the evening there was a gent who was apparently recession-proof as he would toss a short stack of $1 bills out to the crowd. In the air of wanting to look "cool" not too many people reacted to it as a frenzy you would think so I decided to photo document all the bills as they dropped and sat there...Of course I picked a few up.

I've gotta give thanks to my new friend Chris who was a great host there. Chris is part of the crew over at Mr West who walked in our crew of 15 and set us up with a table of what seemed to be endless amounts of liquor which kept our crew happy and dancing. I got a few reports this morning on the after effects.

Going to check out now. I've gotta put all my music together for short Dj set New Years Eve over at Double Crown. Should be big fun.

At your service,

The Boulevardist

About the Boulevardist

A cultural polymath, for over a decade Tomas Delos Reyes' vast understanding of what excites and inspires has kept him on the cutting edge of special event production, branding, and lifestyle marketing. Beginning his career in San Francisco and now based in New York City, Tomas is highly regarded among tastemakers on both coasts as a visionary. His ability to absorb cultural trends across the spectrum-- mixing the raw with the refined while carefully infusing his own sense of style-- is what sets Tomas Delos Reyes apart from the rest.
Drawing from his background in film, dance, music, cocktail mixology and luxury goods, Tomas' event production company, Tomas Moves, is recognized by category leaders as an innovative partner. Moet Hennessey, The Whitney Museum and Red Bull are just a few who have trusted Tomas for his insights into what is current and alive.

In keeping with his reputation of being ahead of the cultural curve, Tomas Delos Reyes has a fresh and exciting vision for 2009. Yet, one aspect of Tomas Moves never changes: the personal attention Tomas gives to each client. "There is a certain synergy I love that comes about when I sit down with clients that enables me to take their vision and transform it into an experience. They tell me what they're looking for in black and white--and I bring it to color."