Making a Difference Through Music in West Los Angeles

Ordell Cordova aka DJ Noj was participating in another Mozaic Creations event this time at the Good Hurt Club on Venice Blvd in good ol' West Los Angeles, California. He needed someone to man the merchandise table at the show.

I showed up at the appointed time of 8 pm and staked out my area as merchant (on Venice). There was a very nice pair of guitar players that were melodious and groovy at the same time that go by the name Night and Day. Being a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration the fact that the guitar players were black and white was apropos.

Then followed a slew of amateur poets and singers expressing their feelings about the holiday for the open mike portion of the evening. The highlight being a powerful poem from An'Nisa, a favorite poet friend of mine, and, of course, Noj was spinning in between to keep things bumping. Other Mozaic Creations luminaries Nicky on electric guitar and J.Biz rapping on the mike kept the energy high through the various stage changes. And Tish the Dish kept things hopping in the VIP lounge with food and drinks for an extra cover charge.

The place was filling up somewhat as the night went on.

Then there was a band called New Kingdom with keyboards, bass, drums and vocals that was high energy and enlivening. I tapped my foot from where I sat and bopped my head.

And then came Blackbird.

Drummer, bass, vocals.

Or maybe I should call it brainwave, heartbeat and soul scream because that would closer approximate the grandeur and unbreakable timing of this trio. The singer jumped off the stage and danced around on the floor taking turns screaming and singing and intentionally initiating feedback by holding the mike too close to the speakers as if he was playing a high note theramin. He knew instinctively where the air turned hottest just before it hurt the ears. He fell down, twisted on the ground, screamed so hard he almost shat himself, he admitted to the dancing crowd. Then the bass player took his guitar off, laid it on the stage, smacked the strings with one hand and used the strap to drag across them with the other never losing the beat, never losing the heat!

I took my hair down and just went with it. One song after another, not all with the same theatrics, but all--all--with the same fire. It wasn't noise, it wasn't discordant cacophony, it was music, but music that made me wonder what all that noisy, discordant cacophony I've been mistaking for music all these years actually was.

And only three people! Two instruments and a singer! Holy wow-headed, leg-jumping thrills!

After that the night was near done. The only thing left was the DJ Noj Experience, which I understand changes slightly from show to show, but this time he had the Blackbird bass player, a drummer, a whammy-bar loving guitarist and even a trumpeter as he broke down some wisdom and flow. It kept the people that had lasted that long a little bit longer because DJ Noj always knows how to deliver an Experience. Partway through the set, they changed it up and started a new beat. Ordell told me later that it was all part of the plan, but it seemed almost impromptu. Music just flowing into music.

But that feedback to the frigging beat! I still can't get over that! That's some stuff right there!

The money made will go towards a non-profit learning center housed in a café environment for low-income families.

Someone must've had a dream.