SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER, 2021
VOLUME TEN NUMBER TWO
MARVIN GAYE
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
JUNIUS PAUL
(July 10-16)
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS
(July 17-23)
MAZZ SWIFT
(July 24-30)
WARREN WOLF
(July 31-August 6)
VICTOR GOULD
(August 7-13)
SEAN JONES
(August 14-20)
JESSIE MONTGOMERY
(August 21-27)
KAMASI WASHINGTON
(August 28-September 3)
TERRACE MARTIN
(September 4-10)
FLORENCE PRICE
(September 11-17)
DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN
(September 18-24)
ALFA MIST
(September 25-October 1)
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/terrace-martin-mn0002366358/biography
Terrace Martin
(b. December 28, 1978)
Artist Biography by Andy Kellman
Terrace Martin is one of the most versatile and freely collaborative artists of his generation. A product of Los Angeles' rich music community, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and vocalist has performed and recorded extensively with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Lalah Hathaway, Herbie Hancock, and Kendrick Lamar, and has been Grammy-nominated through his contributions to the latter's Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City and To Pimp a Butterfly. Martin also has an abundant discography as a leader synthesizing R&B, jazz, and hip-hop in communal fashion. It includes full-length projects such as his early street album Locke High (2008), the Grammy-nominated Velvet Portraits (2016), and the Pollyseeds' Sounds of Crenshaw, Vol. 1 (2017), the first showcase for his Sounds of Crenshaw label. Since participating in Robert Glasper's R+R=Now group for Blue Note, Martin has continued to work with artists across genres while issuing numerous EPs, a live date featuring fellow Locke High School graduate Kamasi Washington, and the Ric Wilson collaboration They Call Me Disco (all in 2020).
The first record the young Martin bought was EPMD's single "You Gots to Chill." While his love of hip-hop continued to grow, he also began to appreciate jazz through his father, a drummer. Having played keyboards for several years, Martin picked up the saxophone at the age of 13. While attending Locke High School, the music program of which previously developed noted musicians such as Ndugu Chancler, Patrice Rushen and Gerald Albright (and would later produce Martin associates such as Kamasi Washington and Thundercat), he moved up to first chair of the California All-State Honors Jazz Band. Gigs with Billy Higgins, P. Diddy, and Kirk Franklin followed shortly thereafter. Martin also began a long-term association with Snoop Dogg and gained a college scholarship via Jay Leno after the Tonight Show Band's Kevin Eubanks heard his playing.
Martin kicked off his production career in 2004 with Snoop, Warren G, and Nate Dogg's group 213, Shawnna, and others, and the next year he landed a track with Warren G along with three other cuts on the collection Bigg Snoop Dogg Presents: Welcome to tha Chuuch - Da Album. Snoop presented Martin's 2007 mixtape Signal Flow, and also gave Martin his first production credit on a single when "Neva Have 2 Worry" was issued in 2008. That year, Martin also released the street album Locke High, hosted by Snoop and DJ Drama with early influences DJ Quik and Kurupt among the other contributors. Across the next few years, he cultivated his solo discography, partnered with DJ Devi Dev on the mixtape Here, My Dear and the Sex EP, and joined forces with rapper Murs for Are Melrose. Martin produced co-produced the title track and produced "Real" for Kendrick Lamar's 2012 breakthrough Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, and earned his first recognition from the Recording Academy when it was nominated for Album of the Year. Martin's own 3ChordFold arrived in 2013 with appearances from Lamar, Snoop, Ab-Soul, and Robert Glasper. It was his first solo release to register on a Billboard chart, landing at number 43 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Martin racked up an assortment of credits throughout the ensuing years on albums by Big K.R.I.T., Travi$ Scott, Ty Dolla $ign, and YG. He became a two-time Grammy nominee in 2015 when Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, featuring "King Kunta" among several of his co-productions, was up for Album of the Year. Signed as a leader to the Ropeadope label, Martin released Velvet Portraits in 2016. Featuring Glasper, Thundercat, and Lalah Hathaway, the album peaked at number two on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart, and its relaxed grooves also won over the Recording Academy with a Grammy nomination in the category of Best R&B Album. Continued studio sessions and live activity with numerous collaborators, including Herbie Hancock, preceded 2017's Sounds of Crenshaw, Vol. 1. Credited to the Pollyseeds, it was another multi-genre affair, involved the likes of Glasper, Kamasi Washington, and Rose Gold, and entered the jazz chart at number three. Martin then took part in Glasper's R+R=Now group, which in 2018 released the Blue Note LP Collagically Speaking. By the end of the decade, his extensive list of side credits had lengthened with Snoop, Lamar, and Washington, as well as ScHoolboy Q, Rapsody, and 2 Chainz, all continuing to seek him as an instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter. A flurry of projects followed in 2020. Among them were short-form headlining releases such as Soul Juice, Conscious Conversations, Sinthesize, Impedance, and Dinner Party: Dessert, and the full-length Terrace Martin's Gray Area Live at the JammJam (featuring Washington). Martin also teamed up with Ric Wilson for They Call Me Disco.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/terracemartin
Terrace Martin
“I never cared about being the best rapper/sax player I just wanted to tell my story and help folks that are going thru things.” – Terrace Martin
Terrace Martin is a notable musician, rapper and producer from the city of Los Angeles and from the beginning of his career he has lent his skills to artists such as Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, 9th Wonder, Talib Kweli and many, many others.
Shattering the acknowledged rules of hip-hop production, he samples everything from funk to jazz to classical to create fresh and original tracks. His productions have made him one of the most sought after up and coming producers on the streets of Los Angeles. His father was a jazz musician, while his mother, was a gospel singer, destining him for a life in music.
“I grew up in the middle with only hip-hop,” Martin says. “My parents taught me that there’s only good and bad music.” He began playing the piano at the age of six and at age 13, a friend encouraged Terrace to learn to play the saxophone and he did, finding one for $150 and learning to play it by himself. His Godfather Stemz Hunter, also a saxophonist, suggested Terrace enroll at Santa Monica High School to sharpen his musical chops. He walked in not knowing what a scale was and soon found himself practicing up to seven hours a day.
Martin made a decision to transfer to Locke High, one of the LAUSD schools where the artistically inclined gravitated to with a tough reputation within an earshot of gang-ridden Watts. While attending Locke High, under the auspice of Reggie Andrews, Martin became first chair of the All-State jazz band. As a child prodigy, Martin gained the interest of talk show host Jay Len who provided a $30,000 scholarship and purchased Martin’s first professional saxophone. Fresh out of high school, Martin attended Cal Arts but decided school was not for him and opted, instead, to go professional. Martin was not only recognized by Hollywood elite, he also found favor in the jazz world where world-renowned jazz musician, Billy Higgins, made Martin a member of his World Stage All-Stars playing in the historic Leimert Park. From World Stage, Martin began touring with Puff Daddy and God’s Property, presented by Kirk Franklin. “I didn’t believe in suffering to play, like why do musicians gotta suffer to play? Eating Top Ramen isn’t cool. I wanted to be main stream.” With that mentality guiding him, Terrace worked hard to get his beats placed for major artists albums. He scored a minor hit with 213’s “Joystick,” and went on to land beats on the Doggfather’s “Rhythm and Gangsta: The Masterpiece” and “Ego Trippin” albums Martin came from behind the board when he released his first project, The Demo and since has released a number of critically acclaimed masterpieces.
Martin’s projects feature many guest appearances from the peers and mentors he has worked with who have lent their expertise to encourage the budding artist’s career. That means verses and production from the likes of Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Pete Rock, DJ Quik, Kurupt, and plenty of others. In late 2010, Terrace Martin and MTV Hip Hop POV host and radio personality Devi Dev released the EP “Here, My Dear”, inspired by Marvin Gaye’s critically acclaimed 1978 album of the same name. The EP has appearances from Snoop Dogg, Charlie Wilson, Kurupt, Problem, Kendrick Lamar and pianist Kenneth Crouch.
In 2010, he executive-produced Kurupt’s “Streetlights” album and formed a group called Melrose with LA underground rap hero Murs that put out an album in early 2011. In 2012, Martin released a number of projects, and in 2013 he will grace the airwaves with his highly anticipated 3 Chord Fold, a fusion project that brings together some of music’s best, hitting fans with a vibe reminiscent of his 2009 release Hear, My Dear. While spending time with numerous luminaries in the studio, Terrace is one of the few artists in hip-hop who seamlessly works with underground, emerging and established artists; often on the same song. And it’s something he’s proud of. “To me, I just bridge the dope people with the dope people,” says Martin. His position in hip-hop music is unbridled, but it is his jazz musicianship that separates his sound from his peers.
From jazz to hip-hop, Martin’s role models include Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Stitt, Grover Washington, Jr., Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Battlecat, Premier, Pete Rock, and 1580 K-Day. “I started producing hip-hop tracks because it was the music of my time, but I never lost my love for jazz.” Martin says
Terrace Martin is currently a staff producer for legendary Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Top Dawg Entertainment (Kendrick Lamar) and also works closely with Dr. Dre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrace_Martin
Terrace Martin
Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor from Los Angeles, California. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, The Game, Busta Rhymes, Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, Raphael Saadiq and YG among others. Martin is a multi-instrumentalist, whose music production embodies everything from funk and jazz to classical and soul. Martin recently released his sixth studio album Velvet Portraits on his newly formed label, Sounds of Crenshaw Records, through Ropeadope Records.[1]
Early life
Musical career
Martin was recognized by Hollywood and music industry elites and found favor in the jazz world, where he played as a member of Billy Higgins' World Stage All-Stars. Martin's big break came when he produced a Power 106 radio drop with Snoop Dogg. He scored a minor hit with 213's "Joystick" and went on to become one of Snoop Dogg's sought after producers, placing credits on R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece and Ego Trippin albums. In 2007, he signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records.[4]
The Demo, Martin's 2010 debut album, features him as a rapper and producer. The album includes beats and guest verses from artists including Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Pete Rock, DJ Quik and Kurupt.[5] On September 28, 2010 Terrace Martin and radio personality Devi Dev released the extended play (EP) Here, My Dear. The first single from the EP is "Roll Up Another One", featuring Wiz Khalifa and Overdoz. The EP features guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Charlie Wilson, Kurupt, Kendrick Lamar, U-n-i, James Fauntleroy II and pianist Kenneth Croutch.[6] The EP is inspired by Marvin Gaye's 1978 album of the same name.[7] On December 21, 2010, Terrace Martin and Devi Dev launched their online music series #DeviTerraceTuesday. On February 22, 2011 they released their second project together, The SEX EP.
3ChordFold
In 2013, Martin released 3ChordFold, a fusion studio album project.[8] 3ChordFold was followed up with 3ChordFold: Remixed in December 2013, and 3ChordFold: Pulse in Spring 2014, which featured many live performances with guest appearances from Robert Glasper and Thundercat, among others. In 2015, Martin was heavily involved in the development of Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed album, To Pimp a Butterfly.[9][10] On April 1, 2016, Martin released his long-awaited, sixth studio album, Velvet Portraits on his Sound of Crenshaw label through Ropeadope.[11] His latest release features appearances from his To Pimp A Butterfly cohorts, Kamasi Washington, Lalah Hathaway, Robert Glasper and Thundercat. Recorded in Los Angeles and Omaha, Nebraska, the highly anticipated Velvet Portraits also taps into his roots, featuring his father Curly Martin on drums and legendary soul group, The Emotions. Velvet Portraits was nominated in the "Best R&B Album" category of the 59th Grammy Awards.
In addition to releasing personal projects, Martin is currently producing albums for Herbie Hancock, YG, SZA and Fergie.[citation needed]
On June 25, 2020, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, and 9th Wonder announced the formation of a supergroup, Dinner Party. They released a single, "Freeze Tag". Their debut album was released on July 10, 2020.[12]
Influences
Martin's role models include Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Stitt, Grover Washington, Jr., Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Battlecat, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and 1580 K-Day. Martin has said, "I started producing hip-hop tracks because it was the music of my time, but I never lost my love for jazz."[13]
Discography
Studio albums
- Melrose (with Murs) (2011)
- The 4 Luv Suite (2012)
- 3ChordFold (2013)
- 3ChordFold: Pulse (2014)
- Times (2014)
- Velvet Portraits (2016)
- Sounds Of Crenshaw Vol. 1 (with The Pollyseeds) (2017)
- Dinner Party (with Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, 9th Wonder) (2020)
Remix albums
- 3ChordFold: Remixed (2013)
- Dinner Party: Dessert (2020)
EPs
- 808s & Sax Breaks (2010)
- The Sex EP (2011)
- Northside of Linden, Westside of Slauson (2019) (With Salaam Remi)
- Sinthesize (2020)
- Soul Juice (2020)
- Conscious Conversations (2020)
- They Call Me Disco (2020) (With Ric Wilson)
- Impedance (2020)
- Village Days (2020)
Mixtapes
- Signal Flow (2007)
- Locke High (2008)
- Here, My Dear (2010)
- Hard Drives: Instrumentals Vol 1 (2011)
- Thoughts From Detention (2011)
- The Sex EP 2.0: Cease & Desist (2011)
- Locke High 2 (2011)
Singles
- "Pig Feet" (2020) (with Denzel Curry, Daylyt, G Perico, Kamasi Washington)
External links
- Terrace Martin at AllMusic
- Terrace Martin discography at Discogs
- Terrace Martin discography at MusicBrainz
- Terrace Martin on Myspace
Q&A with Terrace Martin: From Hip-Hop to Herbie Hancock
by Shannon J. Effinger
Terrance Martin released his sixth studio album, Velvet Portraits, in April on Ropeadope Records. (Photo: Courtesy of the artist)
Producer and multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin’s love for music is apparent to anyone who encounters him—and not just because he has tattoos of Jackie McLean and Miles Davis. Martin developed a deep enthusiasm for those musical icons while growing up in the South Central section of Los Angeles.
In April, Martin—who plays saxophone, bass, keyboards and other instruments—released his sixth studio album, Velvet Portraits (Ropeadope). Well known in both jazz and hip-hop circles, Martin has worked with Robert Glasper, Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog, Thundercat and Lalah Hathaway.
“Jackie McLean was my hero,” Martin said during a recent conversation at a Manhattan hotel. “I wish he could have seen what I did off the things he taught me. I wish he could hear the echoes of him on ‘Alright.’ I know that Kenny Garrett heard it. That was my way of telling [McLean], ‘Thank you.’”
There’s a natural fluidity and openness in Martin’s approach, which made him a perfect fit for a performance by Herbie Hancock’s fusion ensemble at BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in August at the Prospect Park Bandshell.
Martin, who is currently working on Hancock’s long-awaited new album, will be touring in 2016 with his own group, The Polly Seeds.
DownBeat sat down with Martin this summer and again, briefly, after he performed at the second annual BRIC JazzFest in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Below are edited excerpts.
The West Coast is a dominant force in today’s music scene, especially in jazz and hip-hop. How did you, Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat ultimately come to collaborate together?
We started playing together in the Multi-School Jazz Band in Watts, around ninth or 10th grade. I finished Locke High School early because I wanted to get out. I had one good teacher in my life and that was Reggie Andrews. Reggie would play Herbie Hancock charts, Earth, Wind & Fire charts and Stevie Wonder charts. He got all the kids from all the different schools and put them in one after-school jazz band.
It all goes back to Reggie Andrews. He taught Patrice Rushen, Gerald Albright, Tyrese, me, Thundercat, Ronald Bruner, Kamasi Washington. I don’t know life without playing with them. I don’t know saxophone without seeing Kamasi to my left. I don’t know trombone without Ryan Porter. I don’t know drums without Ronald Bruner or Tony Austin.
Let’s talk about your early life growing up in Los Angeles.
I grew up in a musical household. We loved music—we eat to music, cook to music, dance to music, love to music, fight to music, cry to music, laugh to music. I had friends who grew up in really artsy-driven kind of households. But my early memories of childhood were just Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Luther Vandross records … BeBe and CeCe Winans.
At the same time, gangsta rap was being born on the West Coast. The other people I was listening to and enjoying was like anything from NWA, Eazy-E, Too Short, DJ Quik.
At that time, my parents were great musicians, but that was a time in my life where no one gave them work, so they were struggling musicians. They had to have day jobs and be musicians. I grew up in a different kind of life, in South Central, where my father got into criminal activities. My early heroes were like Dr. Dre or whoever had the most money on the block or the nicest car driving down the street or the biggest rep in the neighborhood. Those were my heroes growing up.
When did you first encounter jazz?
What I didn’t realize [during] those tough times was that music was driving any bit of happiness for anyone—particularly in my community, in the Crenshaw district. It was the crack era, and music was the only thing that was bringing any happiness, in any black community around the world—Soul Train, Saturday morning cartoons, game shows [laughs].
My father, [drummer] Curly Martin, is a heavy straightahead jazz musician. His favorite drummer is Elvin Jones. He played anything with Elvin on it … Coltrane’s Live At The [Village] Vanguard.
I was young and didn’t realize what was going on. I’m just seeing my family go through hard times and battles with drugs, losing family members to gang banging and me wanting to be a young gangbanger.
So I’m hearing Elvin and Wayne, every time I go home, in the back of the house. But then I go to the front of the house, my mom would play Donny, Luther and Whitney Houston records [sings and scats, “I’m Your Baby Tonight”]. You see how jazzy that is? Johnny Gill had a record out, “My, My, My.”
I remember these records vividly because it was the crack era. My family was affected by crack cocaine. That’s how I remember this shit, because it was dark but the music would soothe me. Then my father would play Trane and Woody Shaw shit every day ’cause he was going through something. My mom was going through her thing and they really weren’t getting along. I’m a kid in between, listening to gangsta rap, but I gotta cut that shit off when I get to my momma’s house!
From walking to school every morning, it was gangsta rap or Big Daddy Kane. Then I get in the house and my head is torn between John Coltrane, Woody Shaw, Sonny Stitt, Jackie McLean, Archie Shepp, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Bud Powell, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans. Then over here, I’m hearing all the new shit ’cause my mom is a little younger than my father. That was when jazz came through at the same time everything else hit my life.
That gives me a better sense how you came to play so many different instruments. What was your first musical instrument?
My first instrument was a Technics 1200 turntable. The second was an MPC. I didn’t play instruments at first. At one point, I wanted to be Jam Master Jay, especially when [Run-DMC’s 1986 song] “Peter Piper” first came out. And then when I started hearing Dr. Dre, I wanted to be Dre, Mixmaster Spade and DJ Battlecat. Then after that, I got into DJ Quik because he cut real fast! I mean, these were the pioneers of the turntable, so that was my first instrument. I practiced on that every day, eight or nine hours a day, from the time I was 8 or 9 years old.
Then I started producing when I was in like the sixth or seventh grade. My mother bought me a sampler. I had been seeing Dr. Dre at the swap meet where he was passing out NWA records. And I found out how he did beats, like he had an 808 drum machine. I heard the records and knew the records. The drum machine turned my life all the way around. Because of the drum machines, when I had to dig deeper into understanding hip-hop, I wanted to know how to do it. I had to start breaking the shit apart. I didn’t know that this was what my father was doing.
Fast forward, years of breaking this down, I hear A Tribe Called Quest and I’m like, “Damn, this music feels like the music my father used to play in the back of the house … that annoying shit every fuckin’ day called jazz!” [laughs]. He would come to my school and pick me up, and play John Coltrane loud as shit! It was embarrassing cause everyone else’s father played Too Short or Dana Dane or some New Edition cool shit! And here’s my dad playing Coltrane! [scats a Coltrane riff].
A Tribe Called Quest struck a chord because I’m digging it and find something [that makes me think], “What is this?” The song that made me play jazz music was “Sucka Nigga.” [from 1993’s Midnight Marauders]. … Reminded me of where I was from … .
I asked my dad, “Yo, what is that [sample]?” And he says, “That’s ‘Red Clay.’” Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Lenny White, Ron Carter, Freddie Hubbard, CTI—that whole album is full of [jazz samples]. Before that, [my father] was just an old man who played old shit! So A Tribe Called Quest made me and my father have a better relationship.
Because of hip-hop, I learned how to dig. I didn’t dig deep in school. Hip-hop was the only thing that made me want to be intelligent, as a black man. So now I’m digging through different records from Joe Henderson, different records from Herbie Hancock … . When I went through his catalog, it evolved and it just got bigger and bigger. The concepts got bigger. When Herbie played music, it was jazzy but he played music that hit the black neighborhoods and made ’em dance. This music made people want to dance.
In the ghetto, nobody wants to hear that deep shit. We don’t have time to think about that shit; we’re trying to live and survive. We’re trying to dance and feel good. But if you ease it in, it’ll make somebody want to learn it.
Just like hip-hop, Herbie made me want to get in the water and understand jazz through his music. I found out who Miles Davis was through Herbie Hancock’s music. Through his music, I found out who Wynton Kelly was. Who Bill Evans was and McCoy Tyner was. I found out about other [jazz musicians] through his music. I mean, Herbie is a hip-hop musician. He’s a master to me. He probably would call himself a student. I wouldn’t.
For more info on Terrace Martin’s album Velvet Portraits, visit the Ropeadope Bandcamp web page. A few years ago, Martin posted a video on Vimeo, documenting his work on the 3ChordFold project. DB
https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/terrace-martin-robert-glasper-9th-wonder-kamasi-washington-dinner-party-sounds-of-crenshaw-empire/
TerraceMartin/RobertGlasper/9thWonder/Kamasi Washington:
Dinner Party (Sounds of Crenshaw/Empire)
A review of the crossover album from the multi-instrumentalist, pianist, producer and saxophonist
Jazz is always experiencing booms and busts, but the crossover sphere feels uncommonly lively right now. Which doesn’t mean good, necessarily. Often when you mix jazz, hip-hop, soul, and R&B, those strong flavors cancel each other out, and instead of gumbo, you’ve got cream-of-wheat. So we need the crossover masters to show us how it’s done—and few are more revered than multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin, pianist Robert Glasper, producer 9th Wonder, and saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
All four artists arrive hot in the new decade. Martin has produced greats from Travis Scott to Snoop Dogg. Glasper’s 2012 album Black Radio is a paragon of the style, and last year he dropped Fuck Yo Feelings, a guest-stuffed mixtape with a raucous kickback vibe. Also in 2019, 9th Wonder released The Iliad Is Dead and the Odyssey Is Over with Murs and the Soul Council. Washington is one of the most boundary-pushing musicians of the 21st century. And here they are together for Dinner Party, a collaborative EP that’s … safe, polite, and pleasant.
Given its makers, this is alarming. The EP’s ingredients—saxophone trills, R&B choruses, cut-up 4/4 beats—are presented tidily as if on a plate: a starch, a green, a protein. Opener “Sleepless Nights,” which features Phoelix on vocals, is sticky and memorable, but “Love You Bad” and “From My Heart and My Soul”—which repeatedly dig into a single lyric to almost the same BPM rate—kill the momentum.
Things pick up with “Freeze Tag,” a reflection on police violence that recalls the Impressions’ “People Get Ready.” It hints at how substantial their next release could be. Dinner Party’s press bio calls it the product of “years of friendship, shows, dinners, conversations, laughs and life experiences.” But easy rapport between friends doesn’t always translate to the average listener, which makes Dinner Party less a meeting of minds than a soundtrack to a literal dinner party.
Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Denzel Curry share 'Racism on Trial' movement
Earlier this summer, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington and Denzel Curry teamed up for the groundbreaking Black Power Live virtual music festival hosted by Patrisse Cullors (co-founder of Black Lives Matter), presented by Jammcard and Form. Today, they share their collaboration as ‘Racism on Trial’ with three incredible, thought-provoking movements on YouTube, featuring Martin, Washington, Curry, Robert Glasper, Alex Isley, and more.
The Black Power Live event gathered 1.7 million viewers on it's livestream day via Twitch. With today’s release, all proceeds will go to Crenshaw Dairy Mart, Trap Heals, Transgender Law Center, Sankofa.org, and Black Men Build.
‘Racism on Trial’ follows Martin’s recent album Gray Area - Live at the JammJam, featuring the song “For Free?” which Terrace wrote with Kendrick Lamar. The album was released on Jammcard Music in partnership with Sounds of Crenshaw and Empire Distribution. Recorded at Studio A of United Recording, packed with 300 Jammcard members surrounding the performers, the album is filled with some of the most exciting and powerful jazz music created in years. The performance features Ronald Bruner Jr., Kamasi Washington, Maurice “Mobetta” Brown, Ben Wendel, Paul Cornish, and Joshua Crumbly.
https://www.okayplayer.com/music/terrace-martin-interview-sinthesize.html
Terrace Martin Talks Growing Up in LA, Collaborating w/ Artist & Mourning Kobe Bryant’s Death [Interview]
We sat down with Terrace Martin to discuss his work ethic, obstacles in the music industry, and why women artists are killing it more than men artists.
“I’m servicing the artist. I want to give you an experience.”
That’s how Terrace Martin describes his role when collaborating with other artists. As a producer, Terrace Martin has worked with — or provided “an experience” for — everyone from Snoop Dogg to Raphael Saadiq to Charlie Wilson to Stevie Wonder. His most transformative work, however, has been with Kendrick Lamar; he’s played a crucial part in every one of the Compton rapper’s albums, starting with Section.80. Martin’s profile rose in 2015 with the release of Kendrick’s masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly. He produced on eight tracks on the album, with his jazz background partially establishing the backbone of the album.
Being bred into a musical family and growing up Crenshaw — the same neighborhood as Nipsey Hussle — Terrace Martin was immersed in jazz and gospel music. He first started playing piano at the age of six, picking up saxophone a little time after. By the time he was a student at Locke High School he was part of the school’s band.
That jazz background has become Martin’s biggest asset: his love for jazz is ingrained in him and his hip-hop production. The end product is the perfect mesh of rap sprinkled with live instrumentation and soul all in one beat.
Terrace Martin has a studio in North Hollywood. This is where he did the majority of the recording for Sinthesize, his latest instrumental album released last month. This is also where we caught up with the musician in early March.
In person, Terrace Martin is funny, incredibly knowledgeable, and exudes positive vibes. During our time together he said things like, “[Life is] hard everywhere but you know what, we’re alive. If you’re alive, you have action. You only stop getting action when you’re dead. If you can wake up every morning, you have action and get it right again. It’s all good.”
We sat down with Terrace Martin to discuss his work ethic, obstacles in the music industry, and how the death of Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant shook LA. Check out the interview below.
You’ve always been known to be ahead of the curve. What inspires you daily?
Not wanting to be the same. I never want to wear the same cologne. That’s why I never bought fragrances from Macy’s where I knew everybody would buy certain fragrances from. I’d always try to do custom shit. I’d try to make my own clothes when I was younger. I remember I made a jacket one time. A hard jacket.
[In the ’90s] I was into cartoons and the color blue. We had a dance and I made a fresh ass jacket. I had a sky blue Champion regular hoodie, I went to the Slauson Swap Meet and I got a beach towel with Mickey and Minnie Mouse with water in the back. I cut the towel, stitched that shit in the back in the jacket. Motherfuckers thought it was dope. I was always myself, not following the leader. Even when I was younger and really infatuated with South Central LA culture — gangbanging, streets and everything. Even when I wanted to be a crip, I wanted to be a certain type of crip. Whatever I wanted to do, when I wanted to do fraud or hit licks, I want to do everything my own specific way. If everybody does it one way, you’re going to get caught. So let me do it my way because we still have to get the money. The way I love, talk, eat, cook, make love, say hello, everything belongs to me. It’s mine.
Terrace Martin’s jazz background is his biggest asset. Photo Credit: Daniel Ramos for Okayplayer
What kind of crip did you want to be?
A positive one. Because I was inspired by the guys in my neighborhood to do well, the real soldiers in my neighborhood who really care for the art community. A lot of names I probably shouldn’t mention, that are still frequent to this day.
Who looked out for Terrace Martin?
The guy that raised me is Big D, out of my neighborhood. Big D is a powerful man because he understands love and giving. A lot of us in my neighborhood, the Crenshaw and Slauson section of Los Angeles, he was early on helping a lot of us. He was really in touch with music. He loved music so he helped a lot of us: me, Problem, 1500 or Nothin’.
Being an LA native, how are you coping with the recent sudden deaths of Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle?
Death is always a hard thing, those are things that unfortunately we are met with in life. No matter how much they tell us it’s going to happen, I believe none of us are truly prepared to feel that way about anything. There’s no way to prepare for death other than not to prepare for it, and focus on living. With the loss of Kobe and Nipsey, it definitely hurts.
The flipside is… the bad motherfuckers don’t last that long on earth. They’re only here to drop message and get the fuck out of here, hopefully all us dumb motherfuckers pick up the messages and we keep floating. You don’t have to like sports to know Kobe said “work hard.” It’s people that’s going to be living until they’re 110, and they’ll give us no messages. The blessing in that: those guys left so many big words and encouragement for all walks of life. All shades, all colors, all levels of life.
You look at John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix. You look at Dr. [Martin Luther] King, you look at Malcolm X. When you look at the soldiers who really fought for the better of good and doing things that nobody else has done, those are hard weights on your shoulders. And sometimes… poof. It’s okay though. My strong sense of compassion comes in for the families, not really for the fans. Because they left us something. But when they leave us something, being an artist.
What was your relationship with Nip?
My nigga. When you’re a certain artist and you do all this work, you leave the world with words, music, and art — but you leave your family with no daddy. No mother. So when I see everybody “rest in peace!”, everyone’s marching, thank God their families can see this. But, yo, to that little girl or that little boy, that’s just daddy. It’s not Nipsey or Kobe, it’s daddy. That’s where my sense of compassion comes in. Any other thing, I’m just thankful they left us something. Hopefully, we can all be a tenth of what those men were.
How often are you in the studio versus not?
Everyday. I live in the studio at my house. I’ve been in the studio every day consistently for over 30 years. Every week, consistently in my life, since I was a toddler. It hasn’t been a week other than me being out of town on tour, where I wasn’t in the studio.
What do you feel when you play the saxophone?
Freedom. Fuck the police. Say everything I can’t say with the words because everybody is so damn sensitive, so I can say it with the horn. Some people take what I play as soothing, some take what I play as a certain thing. That’s the good part about no words, you can take what I take how you want to take it. I’m giving what’s coming out of my heart. If you receive it, then we’re on the same frequency without words.
What or who inspired your new single “Lie?”
Motherfuckers be lying. It’s not about a man or a female, or a relationship, that’s in the video for a vibe. It’s really I’m sick of lies. I’m sick of lies from the government. I’m sick of lies from the FDA. I’m sick of lies with guns. I’m sick of lies with propaganda. I’m sick of lies. People have to start being more truthful, take accountability and deal with the consequences if they come.
What are the biggest obstacles in the music industry?
None. I escaped gangbanging. Ain’t no obstacles in the music business, this shit weak. All these weenies in the music industry? Everybody’s fake, so it’s cool. Fuck it, that’s the game. I have a select crew of people who I fuck with, we are family and we are loyal to each other. I love everybody but the truth — no bullshit — it’s the entertainment business. Anytime you’re keeping it real, you out of pocket. The entertainment shit is LaLa Land. No obstacles in here, not for my era or my age.
I really wish and pray on the younger generation that things work out smoother with them. The death toll with the youngsters is really interesting. That’s what they said about my generation, and it was a little more treacherous in my generation. Now kids are dying of drugs and you have the internet. Back when I was growing up in the late ’80s and ’90s, if a motherfucker was coming to kill you, you knew. Because they found you, they went through it to find you. It was no misunderstanding. It cracked off.
But LA is always dangerous. LA is never safe for nobody. This isn’t LaLa land, it’s LA. Dirty South Central LA, that’s where we’re from. But you got to walk with God. You got to walk with a different kind of heart, keep the right people around you who have God in them as well. I don’t worry about bullets hitting me. I just hope the creative energy I put out turns the motherfuckers the other way, that’s how I’ve been walking my whole life. You have to walk with a strong force of love to be in this business, and to be in any streets. To be in LA, you have to be strong because you don’t know where the ghetto is. You can’t tell where the ghetto is, that’s tricky. You have to walk with force. Whatever you want to get, you have to project out. Your words are powerful. Keep talking about chippin’ motherfuckers, watch you get chipped. You speak your life, you speak these things.
How do collaborating artists today compare to back then when you were working with Snoop Dogg at age 16?
Sixteen, we were in the studio making all the records together at one time. Nowadays, people send records back and forth. I still don’t send records. People ask all the time. Fuck no. No, I can’t send a record. Shit, it’s really expensive to work with me because you have to pay for so much. The studio’s very expensive, the engineers, the staff. I don’t have beat CDs. I don’t have a pack for you. Who are you? Come meet with me, let’s talk. You want to do a record? You got time, I got time, cool. I’m trying to make legendary music. I could give a fuck about music that’s here today gone tomorrow.
I want to give artists an experience. I don’t want to give you the same music I sent to Kendrick. I don’t want to sit down with Smino and have something I did for YG or Ty Dolla $ign in my back pocket, that’s weird. If you’re dope like your Instagram says, with the money to your ears and chains, then you should be able to make records everyday. I do 10 hours here, go fuck with Ty Dolla $ign, come back here, go fuck with Ty Dolla $ign, go to Manny, etc.
You have to keep going, that’s how you evolve. I like to give artists an experience. When you come work with me, my mama may come in, the bomb weed man’s always around, the good food. Everybody’s positive. You’re going to get a record just for you. This is our family record, ours. I’m not interested in sending records, I don’t chase artists. My schedule’s well-booked for years. Whoever works with me here, they’ve made it. I’ve made it. We both deserve each other’s time.
Terrace Martin working in his studio.
Photo Credit: Daniel Ramos for Okayplayer
I love how you put yourself on a pedestal.
I don’t put myself on a pedestal, I put the artist on the pedestal. I’m servicing the artist. I want to give you an experience. I want you to walk around and say “I feel happy doing art for a living.” No matter what the ups and down, my job is to make the artists be the best they want to be. The best them. I’m not on some higher anarchy, but let’s get in the studio and make some fly shit. From the ground up.
What can we expect next from Terrace Martin?
I’m excited to work with a lot of women. I believe in the women way more than the men right now. A lot of male artists I keep coming across, they look and sound the same. It’s so lame. The artists who are doing it who are the most creative, breaking through challenges and killing shit, are the women artists. Tierra Whack, Summer Walker, SZA… the fellas need to step it up.
That’s what’s so unfortunate about Pop Smoke, he was different.
I didn’t get hip to his music until looking at Angie Martinez a couple weeks ago. I’m like “oh he got 50 Cent DNA, but it’s different.” The way they’re tricking out the 808s, and I love the shit he was saying. “N*ggas saying they outside, send the addy we gon’ slide.” [whistles] When he died, I’m like “damn, I just started liking one of the young guys.” Because there’s a lot of them.
When I heard cuz shit, I’m like “oooohh!” I called on all the OGs, I called Kurupt. On the West Coast, we love gangster shit. We embrace that because we love honesty. The real LA, the ones that push this shit and this culture, we love honesty. We felt honesty through the young man. Unfortunately, his life was cut so short so soon. I believe he would have been a megastar. I looked at a clip of him acting! Young kids have to stay prayed up on whatever belief you believe in that’s a higher source than what you see. Stay focused on your shit, because they out here.
Nowhere is a joke, but Los Angeles is not a fucking game. People need to be careful going to these malls, befriending the wrong people. Get the right friends, call the right friends. This is not a game. I hate that another dope artist got killed in fucking LA. That destroys me, that breaks me down. I love New York, I love young black artists coming out here to get that money. He was a great artist coming to LA, and I know how LA does. I wish it would have went differently.
Anything else you want to let us know?
Smoke more weed. Drink a lot of water. Stay on the earth. We got to cut our sugar down. Everything’s drinking a lot, syrup. A fifth of Hennessy four bottles of consistent maple syrup. When you’re drinking syrup and you’re putting Sprite, it all adds up. We used to turn up. I don’t recommend turning up but if you do, drink water with everything. Go green.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shirley Ju is a Los Angeles-based writer who grew up in the Bay Area. She lives, breathes, and sleeps hip-hop, and is literally on top of new music the moment it is released. If there’s a show in L.A., you can find her there. Follow the latest on her fomoblog.com and on Twitter @shirju.
https://bandonthewall.org/2016/08/five-track-introduction-terrace-martin/
A five track introduction to Terrace Martin
Terrace Martin had been quietly plying his trade for over a decade, producing music for artists like Snoop Dogg and Lalah Hathaway, before his work on Kendrick Lamar’s critically lauded sophomore album To Pimp a Butterfly made him an internationally recognised musician and producer. The album, which made a monumental impact even exceeding Lamar’s expectations, was set apart by its remarkable production aesthetic; harnessing the jazz, funk and R&B styles that have always been present in rap music, but representing them with a musicality that is unprecedented in rap music.
His latest solo album, Velvet Portraits, is a treasure trove for Kendrick Lamar fans, featuring many of the musical motifs and distinctive production styles that adorned To Pimp a Butterfly, but also rewarding fans of jazz in many of its forms, featuring a variety of excellent compositions, executed by some phenomenal musicians and vocalists. Like much of Kendrick Lamar’s music, the album is indebted to Crenshaw and neighbouring districts of Southwestern Los Angeles for it’s inspiration. Martin describes the sound of Crenshaw as being “like a gumbo”, comprised of the “R&B, Funk and Soul to Hip-Hop and Gangsta Rap” that have come before, so it’s no surprise that they are channeled unmistakably through this record. Alongside Ropeadope records, Martin has established the Sounds of Crenshaw label, which is a platform for his work and that of others involved in the explosive L.A. scene.
Ahead of his first show at Band on the Wall on 14th November with The Polly Seeds, a band featuring vocalist Anna Wise and a selection of fine jazz musicians, we pick five tracks which provide a perfect introduction to Terrace Martin, the musician, writer and producer.
Kendrick Lamar – For Free?
Martin’s distinctive alto saxophone lines are the first notes to catch the ear on this Kendrick Lamar number, which, when listening to To Pimp a Butterfly sequentially, is the first real indication of how important jazz is to the fabric of the record. The track was produced by Terrace, who decorates the core piano trio with saxophone, electric guitar and a gospel choir, creating an emphatic be-bop instrumental for Lamar’s novel and theatrical vocal to play off.
Terrace Martin – Valdez Off Crensaw
Valdez Off Crenshaw is a statement piece, displaying the fusion that Martin talks about when discussing the music of Crenshaw. From the funky clavinova and soulful organ, to the G-Funk synth lines and subtle underpinning Fender rhodes (provided by Snarky Puppy’s Robert ‘Sput’ Searight), the track is subtle and melodic, warm and grooving, with Martin’s signature doubled saxophone sound taking centre stage during the breakdown.
Lalah Hathaway – 1 Mile
One of two tracks from Lalah Hathaway’s Self Portrait produced by Terrace Martin. Again, L.A. bleeds into the production, which is an off-kilter hip hop groove layered with hand percussion and bubbling keys, allowing Hathaway’s incredible voice to shine through. Hathaway’s sound is clearly a favourite of Lamar and Martin, as she featured on Velvet Portraits and To Pimp a Butterfly.
Terrace Martin – Curly Martin ft. Robert Glasper, Thundercat and Ronald Bruner Jr.
Curly Martin, jazz drummer and father of Terrace Martin, features in the core band on Velvet Portraits, but guest drummer Ronald Bruner takes the lead on the track which bares his name, playing a hyperactive groove to underpin the jazz-funk melodies of the track. Martin’s vocoder work is another example of a sound recognisable from To Pimp a Butterfly.
Kendrick Lamar – Untitled 05 (09/21/14)
Prior to its release, the demos featuring on Untitled unmastered were referred to as “the secrets”; the songs that gave a strong indication of where To Pimp a Butterfly’s influences lay. Martin co-produced and played on this early recording, which demonstrates how much went into crafting the instrumental direction of the record. He recognises the influence of fellow collaborator Robert Glasper on this track, suggesting that his piano work on the track sounds much like his.
https://soundsofcrenshaw.com/terrace-martin
TERRACE MARTIN
A three-time GRAMMY-nominated artist/producer/multi-instrumentalist from
the Crenshaw District, Terrace Martin is renowned as being one of the
top jazz musicians in the world and has become a creative engine at the
epicenter of LA's progressive hip-hop scene. His noteworthy production
has included major collaborations with Kendrick Lamar (good kid,
M.A.A.D. city & the GRAMMY-winning To Pimp a Butterfly), Travis
Scott, Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, and many other
influential artists. Among the most versatile musicians and producers of
his generation, Terrace's path is leading him in parallel with the
greats including Quincy Jones and Dr. Dre, while also launching his
vibrant, progressive, genre-crossing record label, Sounds of Crenshaw.Grammy-nominated Terrace Martin’s resume is a who’s who of L.A. hip-hop, jazz and R&B
Kendrick Lamar. Snoop Dogg. Kamasi Washington. Robert Glasper. The hip-hop giants and jazz greats all have at least one connecting thread: Terrace Martin.
Come Sunday, Martin will receive his Grammy close-up, as his “Velvet Portraits” is competing for top R&B album. But perhaps R&B is too narrow of a definition for Martin’s music.
Last week at the West Los Angeles Sound Studios, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer and local connector was leading a quintet of players through tracks from the work.
Ace musicians who have worked with such artists as Snoop Dogg, Washington, Thundercat, Lamar and more, the pickup band was burning through the song “Curly Martin,” named for Martin’s drum-playing dad.
During a break, Martin, 38, casually asks drummer Garrison Brown whether his friends might like the music they were making, which effortlessly touches on jazz, soul, hip-hop, rhythm & blues until such distinctions are rendered moot.
“My friends? This is over their heads,” Brown replies, and the room erupts with laughter.
Anyone who’s followed Martin’s wild ride knows he’s not on a commercial tip alongside Rihanna or the Weeknd or interested in simple loops and melodies.
“I never really have a theme on what I want any album to sound like because I’m not just one thing, and I don’t like just one thing,” says Martin later. Heavily tattooed, Martin has a musical notation permanently imprinted on his neck and a rosebud decorates the back of his left hand. “I think, ‘Why limit myself? Why limit others?’ All of the records that I’ve been a part of successfully have never been one thing.”
The amazing thing about him is he’s one of a few people that really understands firsthand the music from a hip-hop perspective and from a jazz perspective,
Keyboardist Robert Glasper on Terrace Martin
As a producer, he’s a longtime collaborator with Grammy-winning rapper Lamar, most recently as a key studio wiz on “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
Martin co-produced the already classic L.A. rap track “King Kunta” and others, and his connections through nearly a quarter-century on the Los Angeles music scene helped fill the record with his longtime peers and collaborators including Washington, Lalah Hathaway, Glasper and others.
“From playing saxophone with God’s Property to playing keys for R. Kelly to playing jazz with Cedar Walton and then producing stuff with Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar — not many people have that kind of resume,” says Glasper, on the phone after a session with Martin and Herbie Hancock.
Across nearly 25 years on the Los Angeles jazz, R&B and hip-hop scene, Martin has shared the stage or the studio with, among others, artists including jazz drummer Billy Higgins, hotshot hip-hop artist-producer Travis Scott and legendary producer Quincy Jones.
In the hip-hop realm, Martin recently produced “Twist My Fingaz,” an underground hit for Compton rapper YG, as well as tracks for Wiz Khalifa, the Game, DJ Quik, Big K.R.I.T and others.
Martin has been signed to Warner Bros. as a rapper-producer, issued a series of mixtapes that featured early verses from Lamar and his Top Dawg label-mate Ab-Soul.
He’s also issued a gorgeous Christmas album, a candlelit rap-and-soul record and, under the moniker 3ChordFold, rap fusion records featuring contributions by artists including Lamar, Ty Dolla Sign and Problem.
The list of his credits could fill the page.
And, as proved by Martin’s moves into a wild alto sax solo during his band’s run-through of “Bromali” during the rehearsal, he could erase the ink off that page with a single burst of his horn. The sextet, which also featured guitarist Marlon Williams, bassist Brandon Eugene Owens, keyboardist Dennis Hamm and Allakoi Peete on percussion, had spent the afternoon prepping for an afternoon set in Baldwin Hills.
“The amazing thing about him is he’s one of a few people that really understands firsthand the music from a hip-hop perspective and from a jazz perspective,” says Glasper. “Most musicians, there’s a weak link on one of those. They don’t quite understand the jazz all the way or they don’t quite understand the hip-hop all the way. But Terrace really, truly understands both sides, and he’s working both sides.”
Glasper and Martin met as teenagers at a prestigious jazz camp in Vail, Colo. By then, Martin had already shown so much promise that comedian Jay Leno had bought him his first professional saxophone and given him a $30,000 scholarship.
I don’t care who says they do all the music alone and everything. Nothing is ever done alone.
Terrace Martin
Around the same time, celebrated guitarist Williams (Nas, UGK, Jay Z, Snoop, Schoolboy Q) first saw a teenage Martin play during a jam session at the Townhouse in Venice. At the time, he had fire-engine red dreadlocks, says Williams.
“I see this kid get up and I’m like, ‘Whoa, wow. That’s a lot for a kid to play,’ ” says Williams. Martin and Williams are now partners in Sounds of Crenshaw, which issued “Velvet Portraits.”
Soon, Williams was helping Martin get gigs, most notably with Snoop. Recalls Williams of Snoop’s early reaction to Martin’s way around a studio: “At rehearsal, he saw Terrace on the keyboards, saw Terrace on the drums, saw him on the vocoder, saw him on the horn. He said, ‘Cuz is durable. He can do it all.’ Snoop just fell in love with him.”
Martin hasn’t stopped working since, and along the way has become the hub of a community that has set Los Angeles music on a fresh path.
“I believe the only way to produce a real record is at some point to be in that room with that human being so you can feel emotion,” says Martin. “That’s why most of the songs that have changed the world, people have been in the same room together. I don’t care who says they do all the music alone and everything. Nothing is ever done alone.”
Motioning toward the rehearsal stage, Martin points at a bass amplifier in trying to explain what distinguishes his work.
“I still love air,” he says. “Like a woofer: Those speakers only work because of air in the room. If there’s no oxygen, the speakers wouldn’t boom. The air has to breathe.
“So I’m only familiar with things that breathe,” he continues. “Speakers breathe to me. You breathe, I breathe, Marlon breathes, Snoop breathes, Kendrick breathes, Herbie breathes. The drum machines? These things don’t breathe. These things are just tools.”
https://www.thebroad.org/online-programs/time-decorated-terrace-martin-responds-jean-michel-basquiat
Time Decorated: Terrace Martin Responds to Jean-Michel Basquiat
Overview
“Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.”
—Jean-Michel Basquiat
(December 22, 1960–August 12, 1988)
The first segment of The Broad’s Time Decorated series, produced by Quincy Jones Productions and directed by Moses Berkson, featured L.A. jazz musician Terrace Martin as well as input from Quincy Jones himself. Martin delved into how jazz, birthed in New York City much like Basquiat, played a role in his artistic vision.
Jean-Michel Basquiat often referenced and depicted African American musicians in his work, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Max Roach. In this special reprise of the Time Decorated series, Terrace Martin returns to perform a saxophone improvisation in response to Basquiat in our newly installed galleries of the iconic artist’s paintings.
Learn more: https://www.thebroad.org/online-progr...
Details
Terrace Martin
A three-time GRAMMY-nominated artist/producer/multi-instrumentalist from the Crenshaw District, Terrace Martin is renowned as being one of the top jazz musicians in the world and has become a creative engine at the epicenter of LA's progressive hip-hop scene. His noteworthy production has included major collaborations with Kendrick Lamar (good kid, M.A.A.D. city & the GRAMMY-winning To Pimp a Butterfly), Travis Scott, Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, and many other influential artists. Among the most versatile musicians and producers of his generation, Terrace's path is leading him in parallel with the greats including Quincy Jones and Dr. Dre, while also launching his vibrant, progressive, genre-crossing record label, Sounds of Crenshaw.
Quincy Jones Productions
Quincy Jones Productions
(QJP) is a full-service entertainment company, which is home to various
branches such as artist management; licensing & endorsements; live,
film, & television production; international joint ventures; and
investments. The licensing division includes a state-of-the-art line of
consumer electronics with Harman International (JBL); a piano teaching
software with Playground Sessions; Qwest TV, Jones’ first SVOD platform;
and more. In addition, QJP opened Quincy’s first-ever music venue, Q’s
Bar & Lounge, at the Palazzo Versace Hotel in Dubai, and is set to
open additional venues around the globe. During the past three years,
QJP’s production slate has included everything from ABC’s Taking the Stage: Changing America (the official celebration concert for the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture); Soundtrack of America (The Shed’s five-night opening concert series at Hudson Yards); The Broad’s Soul of a Nation Celebration; Q85: A Musical Celebration for Quincy Jones on BET/VH1; and more. QJP was also responsible for the release of the 2014 film, Keep On Keepin’ On,
which won the top prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, was sold to
Radius, and shortlisted for the Documentary (Feature) Academy Award, as
well as Netflix’s QUINCY (directed by Jones’ daughter, Rashida
Jones, along with Al Hicks). The film garnered international acclaim,
and won the AAFCA Best Documentary Award; the BFCC Best Documentary
Award; the Black Reel Outstanding Documentary Award; the Critic’s Choice
Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary Award; and landed Jones
his 80th Grammy nomination and 28th Grammy win, in the category of Best
Music Film. With Quincy Jones (one of 21 EGOT—Emmy, Grammy, Oscar,
& Tony—holders in history) at the helm, QJP is modeled after an
inimitable legacy of excellence.
