DaKAH Hip Hop Orchestra April 20, 2007

Imagine 30 stringed instruments, along with full brass and woodwind sections, all playing a hybrid of hip-hop merged with jazz and European classical music. The 60 artists of DaKAH run the spectrum of musical instrumentation, encompassing 30 string players, including violin, viola, cello, and harp; a full woodwind section, including clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, and flute; a brass section including trombone, tuba, French horns and trumpets; a slew of percussionists including a regular drum kit, congas, bells, timbales, Brazilian sticks and bass drum, desert drums from the Mid East, and even steel pans. From street MCs to DJs, concert violinists and winds to guitars and harps. DaKah comes together in a seamless whole. The result is pure white light beaming through like the waveline of a santeria beat.

As a composition student at Berklee and funk-jazz saxman on the road, DaKAH composer and conductor Gallegos first earned his stripes in clubs and venues all over the country. After studying with George Clinton and otther fathers of the funk, Gallegos stepped out on his own and formed DaKah in the late 90's. Since the orchestra's debut in November of 1999, DaKAH's members have swelled from 23 to 63 musicians. On any given night, there are various numbers of dancers, singers, rappers, deejays and turntables. While regular hip-hop rarely uses live instrumentation, DaKah takes the essential funkiness, rhythm and phrasing of hip hop, and merges it into a symphonic anomaly.

Official Website: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/spectrum/events.html?event=041707a