I went to see Flying Lotus at the Echoplex last night.  I had just flown in from Miami – and was facing that kind of fatigue that only comes from airports, airplanes, wack in-flight chicken sandwiches, time zones, booze and little sleep. I thought my only saving grace would be a Red Bull.  Then Ravi Coltrane walked on stage.  It was like a shot of adrenaline. It’s not uncommon for the performers to outnumber the audience at a jazz show in LA. But here I was in a sweaty sold-out echoplex.  It felt amazing to see that many people watching jazz on a Saturday night.  And Ravi Coltrane no less. The first jazz record I ever owned was “Blue Trane“.  I was 15.  I’ve probably listened to it 500 times.  Something tells me Ravi’s listened to it more.  Some of his sax lines paralyzed me last night.  Hypnotic really.  It sounded so much like his dad.  And this wasn’t even the main event!

I had never seen Flying Lotus live until tonight.  There’s no denying the FlyLo buzz right now…  It seems like a lot of hyped bands fall short of your expectations when you come face to face.  But not here.  Not tonight.  The musicianship in FlyLo’s live band ∞ was stupid.  But in a tasteful way.  Everyone had their moment to shine.  Thundercat (woah…). Miguel Atwood-Fergsuon. Ravi.  The band played for about an hour and then Flying Lotus did a solo set followed by an encore with the band. They sent me into outerspace on more than one occasion.  Sometimes I try and imagine new genres of music.  That’s a tough one. It’s like closing your eyes and trying to picture a new color.  Surely the rainbow has accounted for every color already, right?  Flying Lotus feels like he stuck a crowbar between yellow and green and is wedging them apart to make room for a new color.  This color doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s there.  Eventually it will have a name and Skittles will add it to their lineup. But that’s still a few years off.

Daddy Kev made a point of thanking the audience afterwards. “This is an important night for Los Angeles”, he said. I thought a lot about this. The hard work these guys had put into bringing a local scene to the world’s attention.  And all the world-class musicians on stage that helped to make it possible.  Kev was right, it was an important night for music.  It made me think a lot about vosotros – and what an honor it is to work with the musicians we do (some of which were on stage last night).  I started to comb through our liner notes this morning and was floored by what I found … over 120 musicians have contributed to our label over the last few years … I think that speaks volumes to the music scene in Los Angeles.  It’s that collaborative spirit that made last night so special. And it’s the reason the best music scene in the world continues to grow in own back yard.

John

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