Tour Dates
***LIVE BAND*** Jan. 28th @ Uptown (Oakland, CA)
Colossus East Bay Release Party
Colossus (Live), J Boogie, and Oakland Faders. uptownnightclub.com
Feb. 3rd @ Mezzanine (San Francisco, CA)
Om Records 10 Year Anniversary Party
Colossus (Live), Mark Farina, J Boogie's Dubtronic Science, Afro Mystik and More. View Flyer Here www.mezzaninesf.com
Feb. 10th @ Social Club (San Francisco, CA)
Massive Selector, Brown Tempo, and Om Present Sa-Ra & Colossus
Galaxies of funk collide for the last big bang at The Social Club View Flyer Here www.1751socialclub.com
Mar. 11th @ Onyx Room (San Diego, CA)
OM 10 Year Celebration w/ Colossus West Oaktown Release Party
DJ Kasper/Turtle Fuzz with Clay Elliott in the Front lounge and opening talent. www.onyxroom.com
Mar. 23rd @ M3 Sunset Sessions (Miami, FL) Om Records BBQ
Mark Farina (Mushroom Jazz Set), Colossus, J Boogie, & Strange Fruit Project
Mar. 27th @ Mansion (Miami, FL)
Colossus *DJ Set* OM's Big Miami Bash.
Reviews
"Colossus blurs the line between hip-hop and groovy jazz. Merging live instrumentation with traditional sampling creates a smoky, mellow vibe that derives much from both early 1970s soul-funk and early 1990s jazz-rap. Quality tunes for intellectual rap heads and old school beat fiends." - Rolling Stone
"Existing in a chilled-out space between Roy Ayers and Digable Planets circa
Blowout Comb, West Oaktown is indeed cool like that." - URB
"Bring it! Techno-organic jazz-hop has met its master in Colossus, whose
music sounds like a mutant-powered, sonic version of the Marvel X-Men
character." - Eric K. Arnold, XLR8R
"Scat-rapping, laid back funk, shimmering speakeasy jazz, crispy slow-gaited
percussion. It's like the Roots remaking Organix, but with actual chops this
time. Or Yesterday's New Quintet playing only the Bluest Notes from the most
Digable Planets. Stones Throw is kicking themselves in the wolf mask for
missing this." - FILTER
"Those pining for the 90's vibe, the comfort zone where jazz and hip hop commingle, will get with this. Consistency and depth are your confidants for this two-disc set (the second cd being a strong offering of imaginative remixes)." - Straight No Chaser Magazine
"I absolutely love the album, I can't stop playing it. The vibe is deep and funky as hell. It is really awsome." - Laurent Garnier
"Fat as f..@k beats and swooping bass roll deep into hip-hop as rich as Main Source and a sliced'n'diced band sound not too far away from Duke Ellington in his Blanton/Webster prime. Sureplayer / Absolute brilliance." - 5 / 5 DJ Magazine
THE BACKGROUND STORY TO AN URBAN JAZZ MASTERPIECE:
Having in the past supported the likes of Roy Ayers, Fred Wesley, Gil Scott Heron, Don Blackman and James Brown (playing bass in the funk band the Big Cheese Allstars), it's no wonder that 6 foot Englishman Charlie Tate’s music sounds the way it does. A move to Oakland, California, in Oct '02, the purchase of copious amounts of second hand jazz and COLOSSUS was born!
Launching the weekly Slow Gin jazz and soul party in Oakland, Tate discovered some extremely talented local Bay Area MC's, four of whom are featured on this album. Capitol A has worked with King Britt, Jazzanova, and 4 Hero, Delphi, a new cat straight outta Flint MI, Azeem, a Bay area stalwart, and Regi B originally from Buffalo New York, and upon returning to London, Hylton Smythe AKA Roots Manuva joins in on a few guest vocal tracks.
Created as a complete album with the original version for the jazz lovers and a completely remixed version for the hip hop heads, on listening, it's pretty self evident where West Oaktown is coming from. Hip hop but with a hefty dose of jazz, funk and soul and as far as influences go the opening paragraph pretty much says it all
Plans are afoot to spend the summer in Oakland, California putting together the full live COLOSSUS band with a series of pre-release shows in major markets around the U.S. including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and a few others.
Stay tuned for the Colossus LIVE band touring the globe!
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