This special performance sees a meeting between two interesting forces in modern African-American music. The first is Blackstar, a hip hop outfit made up of the iconic Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli. Formed in the late 90s, they were hailed for injecting a sense of sharp social and political observation onto a scene that had been characterised by gang violence in much of the mainstream media. The second is the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, an extraordinary outfit composed of the eight sons of trumpeter Phil Cohran, all dressed in white, wielding different horns and playing a mix of jazz, rock, funk, hip hop and music from around the world.
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