evolution. gene had twiggs concert numero dos yesterday. the first one was tight. this one was better, tighter, mightier. he's gone from the intimacy of sitting on a chair and drawing everyone in to standing up and performing from his feet up. the little shuffles, the little taps, the little dance of gene and music was happening. and gene's game was up on a whole nother level. his new songs, inspired by a week long "artist's retreat" with ameer in LA, were focused and effective. the guitar skills were on prominent display and also gamed up a notch. his singing has been elevated, his stage presence has been elevated, the entire spectrum of game has been elevated. people were moved. and moved were people. a few technical difficulties arose as gene tried to incorporate his new toy into the set. his new toy is a loop machine that can record shit on the fly and then play back with well timed bare footed taps. this enaables gene to loop himself and then play another guitar part over that recorded loop. the terms "one man army" and "solo duet" have never been more appropriate.



from a few months ago watching gene do an open mike at hot monkey love (his second public performance ever), to now, holding the rapt attention of an audience of fifty, i've personally witnessed the fledging baby steps of an artist being borne and created. gene was shaky and nervous back then, still uncomfortable with the stage and his place upon it. but now gene is a veteran of open mikes, a veteran of the stage, and his increased confidence is reflective of that. there is still a long path to walk from veteran to star but it's amazing to see it all unfold through the lenses of friends and the artist himself.



the crazy thing about seeing a performance is that one often doesn't think of the invisible work behind the scenes. the time put into preparing for an hour long set. the weeks spent perfecting one litte riff or one simple melody. by the time we see someone on stage they are already at point C, and we can't quite fathom what points A and B looked like. but if you've seen the practices, seen the mistakes, seen the growth, it's one smooth transition from A to C. every artist who puts something out to the public has been through the thought process of "what does this look/sound like, what does it mean, what do i want it to mean." every action and reaction is orchestrated with careful planning and expectancy. it may not work out like the master plan, but there is always a master plan. this is why i like watching the practices, hearing about the ideas, watching the process of artistry. it's also fun to document everything for future reference and insight.



if you just see the final product there is a tendency to be wowed. if you just see a singular final dance performance, you miss the little moments of "ah ha!" and revelation, when things just suddenly come together. some prefer not to see this process of course, preferring to serve witness to only the final polished product. but i enjoy watching the whole thing from beginning to end. it does sometimes take away from the surprise and newness of everything but as i've learned, things will surprise you. that's why they call it a surprise. people who know what they want will always up their game, no matter how many times you've seen them.



"that makes me know that, (what) we're doin, we had the right idea in the beginning and we just need to maintain our focus and elevate. we, what we do, we update our formulas. we have certain formulas but we update'em. the rhyme style is elevated, the style of beats is elevated, but it's still guru and premier. and it's always a message involved."

-gangstarr, you know my steez-