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Beat Improviser
Good vibes from a turntable maestro.
By Tim Lyons
Berklee.edu Correspondent
October 16, 2003
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| DJ Logic performs for Berklee students. |
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| Photo by Justin A. Knight |
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In the hands of DJ Logic, the old and new are not irreconcilable opposites but fodder for fusion. "My love is the wax, man," he said at a recent clinic at the David Friend Recital Hall. "But I ain't trying to be no dinosaur up here, neither," he added, waving toward one of his new Technics 1200s turntables. His master class also bridged the gap in terms of who attended. The room was packed not only with Berklee's burgeoning cache of turntablists, but also with dozens of other musicians from all spheres, eager to hear the story behind the sounds of the groundbreaking record-spinner.
After an introduction from Music Production and Engineering professor Stephen Webber, Logic took the stage and dove directly into a thunderous, techno-tinged improvised jam, accompanied by Berklee alumnus Deantoni Parks on electronic drum pads. Heads bounced and feet stomped as Logic and Parks (who has performed with Lauryn Hill) scribbled, scratched, and sliced their way through a hip-hop hodgepodge.
Once the jams had been fully kicked out, DJ Logic took a seat and began to conjure up images of days gone by in what he called the "Boogie-Down Bronx." Born Lee Jason Kibler in 1972, Logic came of age in the early 80s, in parallel with the growth of the music scene's new sound.
"As rap was coming up, so was I," he said.
At age 14, armed with a set of newly acquired turntables (thanks to a particularly generous gift from Santa that Christmas), the young Kibler was soon a regular on the Bronx house party circuit, playing everything from Friday night dance parties to graduations to high school functions. Long hours behind the turntables performing hundreds of gigs not only afforded the budding DJ the opportunity to bone up his scratching and mixing chops, but also to see and be seen by a great number of up-and-coming musicians also working the Bronx party scene.
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DJ Logic is one of three turntablists who have given clinics at Berklee.
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Photo by Justin A. Knight
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One such musician provided a major turning point in Kibler's career, as well as a new name. Richie Harrison, drummer with the rock band Eye and I, approached the young DJ in 1986, and invited him to a rehearsal. Harrison wanted the group to add a hip-hop flavor to its sound and started the experiment by hearing what Kibler could do. That rehearsal was the first time Kibler played live with other live musicians; prior to that, he played only with prerecorded tracks. His role in the band context, he quickly learned, was to "find the grooves." Sometime later, Eye and I vocalist DK Dyson, after thumbing through the dictionary, came up with the DJ name that has stuck with Logic to this day.
In the years following that initial meeting, Logic played hundreds of gigs and toured the world, all the while finding new ways to combine his turntables with the styles and sounds he was continually discovering. One major catalyst to this process was Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid. Logic and Reid clicked immediately, and the guitarist turned him onto jazz and fusion, styles of music in which improvisation plays a dominant role. Logic began to incorporate elements of improvisation into his own work, both in terms of the samples he chose to spin, and the way he approached music in general. Said Logic about other musicians seeing him initially as just a guy with a few record players, "I looked at them as a third turntable, something else to vibe with."
And vibe he did. Logic has since gone on to collaborate with many neo-improv heroes of the day, most notably the organ trio Medeski, Martin, and Wood. Logic's in-studio and on-stage collaborations with MMW have revitalized both parties' approaches to improvisation, composition, and performance, and set a new standard for the possibilities of instrumentation in the traditional jazz/funk setting.
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Logic selects an LP for one of his performances. |
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Photo by Justin A. Knight |
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After answering questions posed by Berklee students ranging from gear to marketing to musicians he'd most like to work with, Logic thanked the audience for their support and attention, and then squeezed in a plug for Professor Webber's line of turntabling technique instructional products, published by Berklee Press. Logic returned to his position behind the turntables, and he and Parks entertained the audience with another raucous romp of spiced-up beats, trippy trumpets, and spacey saxophones, culminating in a Motown funk groove over which he and Parks traded licks with playful intensity and true originality.
Logic concluded the day by giving a bit of ensemble-minded advice that came from his own experiences. "I don't try to flex the skills on top of a whole group. It's more about fitting in and finding the right colors," he said. He also stressed the importance of some of the more intangible aspects of group cohesion. "Everybody should be able to vibe with each other on stage, all around."
Tim Lyons is division technical coordinator in Berklee's Office of Institutional Advancement and guitarist/bassist in the Boston-based pop/rock/soul band Dr. Awkward.
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