ArtOfficial
When a venerable source such as Tower Records sets your CD at #4 and the Lollapallooza crowd gives your group the nod in the top three among competing bands, something is happening, as the old saying goes.
This would seem to be the case with ArtOfficial, an “independent hip hop/jazz band” as the group’s marketing information states. Based in Miami, the smooth sounds of ArtOfficial are indeed hip hop, but they are also jazz and are rather funky. Looking at some individual tunes, “Clockwork” starts with some smooth night-club jazz saxophone then morphs into energetic hip hop.
“Big City, Bright Lights,” apparently the most popular tune on the MySpace page, starts with straight hip hop, drops into a bit more jazzy feel for a few bars, then picks up the pace again. ArtOfficial has found a way to mix the various genres without making the listener uncomfortable. This just may be the type of music that runs through the brain on a night cruise in the ocean city. “Gone” continues the feel, with a bit of real snap on the drums.
According to www.sonicbids.com, ArtOfficial is: Danny Perez on keys, Manny Patino on drums, Ralf Valencia on bass, and Keith Cooper on the saxophone with vocals provided by emcees Newsense and Logics. They are playing in the Miami and south Florida areas now.
Tags: independent music, indie music, indie, music, artofficial
