A dream come true performing at Stellar Masses : Earth III at The Fels Planetarium. A beautiful evening of cosmic sonic beauty. Enjoy this live video.
Alarm Will Sound x King Britt
Had the honor of collaborating with the unconventional, Alarm Will Sound Orchestra, on three compositions. We debuted the work at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St Louis. This is a clip of the song, The Intention. Such a wonderful experience and looking to bring this to other cities.
West Coast Weekender x King Britt
I was honored to perform at the annual West Coast Weekender in San Diego. Some of the top djs from the house music and dance community, brought their magic to the historic Lafayette Hotel, for a weekend of education, workshops and joyful music events. I cannot wait until next year!
Here with Oscar G, co founder of West Coast Weekender
Cassy in the mix
The Gatherings x Fhloston Paradigm
I was honored to present my Fhloston Paradigm project at the now legendary Gatherings, presented by Chuck Van Zyl at St Mary's Church on University of Pennsylvania's campus. I was joined by the great, Pia Ercole, who's voice always take the project to the next level.
Fhloston Paradigm Fall Tour
Excited to embark on special tour dates for Fhloston Paradigm. See you soon.
Sylk130 20yr Reunion Show & Album
20yrs ago, we took the world by storm with the new sound of Philadelphia. Sylk130 was a collective of the best of the best singers and musicians that frequented the Back2Basics events at Silk City.
While I was on tour with Digable Planets, I started working on the album concept and ideas. When The Funk Hits The Fan was the result, an 'audiobiography' of a life of a dj growing up in Philadelphia in the 70s. The album went on to sell 500k worldwide without crazy marketing, but from great publicity from Sony. Then word of mouth took over.
Then 3 years later, I completed Re-Member's Only which featured everyone from De La Soul and Kathy Sledge to Alison Moyet and Grover Washington Jr.. This was my ode to the 80s before the trend to do this era.
So, I am pleased to present the only live reunion show featuring all the original members September 4th at TLA.
Afterparty will be Back2Basics at Silk City.
There will also be a new release of hits and misses called "So What Happened Was..." that will be released later in September.
+ read about the history of Back2Basics
+ tickets
Morocco : The Mystical and Magical [tour recap]
I just returned stateside from a life changing dream trip to Essouira, Morocco with legendary bassist, Jamaaladeen Tacuma. He asked me to join Wolfgang Puschnig, Ahmad Compaoré and him to perform at the Gnaoua Music Festival. We would also be joined by Maalem Hassan Boussou and his crew to create on onstage cultural exchanged of traditional Moroccan music with American funk & electronic.
Upon arrival in Marrakesh, I had images in my mind of this mystical and exotic place. My first steps on the North African land felt euphoric, like I had been there before in a past life. The first sounds heard were a mix of Arabic and French dialects filling the airport. We were greeted by the festival family to drive 3hrs to Essouira, which is a small town with big heart.
After the surreal drive through the semi desert and metropolis, we arrive in the town. We are greeted by our amazing host and guide, Fouad Wardi. We walk through the extremely colorful town to our Riad (traditional Moroccan house), to be warmly hugged by Fatima, the house caretaker and love giver.
We are immediately whisked away for a traditional Moroccan meal, that was the beginning of a whole new and constant eating schedule! Wow!
After a well deserved sleep in my King size bed for a King, we all had our first rehearsal. I was very nervous, since I needed to find my voice within the context of what Jamaaladeen is doing and the traditional players. What I learned is that less is more.
Forgot to say that when we arrived a very serendipidous meeting between old friends took place. Jamaaladeen had run into actor and longtime friend, Bob Wisdom (from the Wire). We went to meet the 'unofficial' mayor of the town! His spirit is magical.
The next few days would be filled with magic, from wandering around the mystical town in search of colorful fabrics and bags, to rehearsing with the top musicians from Morocco. It all was a whirlwind of cosmic dust and positive sorcery.
Now, the big day. We are on at 8pm and the butterflies had landed for sure. Rehearsals were beyond beautiful and it was time to share it with the sea of 3000+ people for our set.
The experience totally changed the way I listen to music now, and dance music in particular, since the Gnaouan tradition is very repetitive trance music essentially. I will be returning very soon.
