The Witzard

Marcel Theo Hall, better know as Biz Markie and oftentimes, affectionately referred to as The Biz, The Clown Prince of Hip-Hop, The Inhuman Orchestra, The Diabolical Biz Markie, and The Emizah-Emizah, was highly revered as one of the most genuine emcees to ever do it. Biz passed away on Friday, July 16, 2021 at the tender age of 57, likely due to complications from Type 2 Diabetes, although, no official Cause of Death has been revealed just yet. Biz Markie is most well-known for his infectious 1989 break-out single, "Just A Friend," but he was a truly multi-talented artist, as well. Biz Mark's lesser-known talents included beat-boxing, dancing, producing, DJ'ing, acting, singing, and song-writing. It was proven time and time again that "Nobody Beats The Biz," but he surely didn't mind collaborating with just about anyone; racking up genre-defying features with everyone from the Beastie Boys to Spin Doctors. Biz's film and television appearances...

Los Angeles super-group/production team, Night Owls have returned with yet another pipin' hot slice of Reggae-infused Soul/Funk on wax, "Gossip" B/W "What'cha See Is What'cha Get." Just a quick refresher: Night Owls' core line-up consists of Dan Ubick (The Lions, Connie Price & The Keystones) on guitar, Blake Colie (Seu Jorge, The Lions) on drum kit, Dave "Wilder Style" Wilder (The Lions) on bass, and Roger Rivas (The Aggrolites, Jason Mraz) on organ and piano. Frequent The Witzard readers and vinyl enthusiasts alike may recall Night Owls from their previous two 7-inches, "There's A Break In The Road" B/W "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" with Afrodyete and Terin Ector, respectively, or Durand Jones-assisted "This Christmas," both issued last year on LA-based F-Spot Records. Now, Dan Ubick, Blake Colie Dave Wilder & Roger Rivas have returned, again, joining forces with F-Spot Records for th...

Just in time for Christmas, The Night Owls have returned with a new 45 showcasing a festive cover of "This Christmas" with Durand Jones . The Night Owls (or just Night Owls ) are drummer Blake Colie , guitarist Dan Ubick , and bassist Dave Wilder of The Lions , along with The Aggrolites' long-time piano/organ player Roger Rivas . Durand Jones is, of course, the frontman and namesake of critically-acclaimed Soul/Funk revival ensemble, Durand Jones & The Indications . Following "There's A Break In The Road" B/W "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" released this past July, Night Owls have re-emerged to bring us a Reggae-tinged version of "This Christmas" first popularized by Donny Hathaway in 1970 for ATCO Records. "A perfect jam to have on deck this holiday season. Side B features an instrumental version, where the Funky and grooving organ stylings of Roger Rivas keep the tune alive to be played on the dance floor ...

There's a Break In the Road / Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Night Owls Not to be confused with Rolled Gold's The Nite Owls, members of Los Angeles' The Lions & The Aggrolites have joined forces to form Night Owls . Blake Colie , Dan "Connie Price" Ubick & Dave Wilder from The Lions have linked up with kindred spirit, Roger Rivas from The Aggrolites . For Night Owls , Colie has stepped behind the drum kit, Ubick provides guitar/percussion, Wilder plays bass, and Rivas provides organ & piano duties. Night Owls' first collaborative offering stands as "There's A Break In The Road" & "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" 7-inch/digital single as part of F-Spot Records' ongoing Homage Series. "There's A Break In The Road" is an uptempo Reggae/Soul cover of Allen Touissant & Betty Harris' 1968-69 smash hit now featuring long-time Breakestra vocalist Afrodyete . Side B feature...

Dan Ubick has either played with, recorded with, backed up, or been sampled by everyone from Lily Allen to DJ Z-Trip. His own note-worthiest/most critically-acclaimed projects include Breakestra, Connie Price & The Keystones, The Lions, Rhythm Roots All-Stars, and most recently, The Mad Geezers & Night Owls. We've previously spoken with Dan Ubick AKA Constantine "Connie" Price on a number of occasions, over the years: once, in 2013 coinciding with the release of The Lions' This Generation on Stones Throw, again, in 2015 right around the time of The Lions' SOUL RIOT release, and just a year later, for Now-Again Records' 2016 re-issue of Connie Price & The Keystones' Wildflowers: The Expanded Edition. We were, also, fortunate enough to run an exclusive premiere for The Lions' music video for their cover of The Clash's "The Magnificent Dance" from their 1980 genre-eschewing 3-LP magnum opus, SANDINISTA! as well as various covera...

First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving Day Weekend/Black Friday to all of our trusty readers out there and Happy Record Store Day Black Friday to my fellow crate diggers! Full disclosure: I'm pretty sure one of the first CD's I ever bought for my Walkman was Will Smith 's 1997 solo debut, Big Willie Style . Regardless, it was definitely one of my earliest brushes with Hip-Hop/Rap , which ultimately, changed my life! A few of my earliest favorite Hip-Hop albums I discovered on my own were Atmosphere 's Seven's Travels , Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill & Paul's Boutique, Wu-Tang Clan 's Enter: The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers,) and Jurassic 5's Power In Numbers. The latter has always had a special place in my Hip-Hop -loving heart and I would soon, go on to discover DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist 's heavily-bootlegged BRAINFREEZE , Chali 2na & Roc 'C's Ron Artiste' super-group, and Jurassic 5 's "last" album, Feedback , r...

"Video premiere!! Thanks to Otto Granillo and Junko Seki , I got to get my [New Wave] on producing this catchy tune, "Wallflower" for their group Kotolan . Mixed beautifully by my main man, Stephen Kaye at SunKing Studios ," The Lions producer and bandleader Dan Ubick AKA Connie Price enthusiastically wrote on Facebook this past May; just about a month after "Wallflower," Kotolan unleashed their second Dan Ubick -produced single, "Toyko Subway." Trombonist, audio-visual artist, and "OTO" half of Kotolan , Otto Granillo recently told me that he and his wife/bandmate Junko Seki "have been writing an producing singles lately, instead of making an album." Although, Granillo says they're currently "throwing around the idea of releasing a full-length album in the future [with] a group of previously-released singles from a specific year/period" of Kotolan 's recent work. Granillo currently plays trombo...

"So, tomorrow, my first single in over a decade will be available everywhere. Throughout this layoff, there's been pain, self-sabotage, tears, missed opportunities, waiting, more waiting, distrust, frustration, salvation, hard work, love, setbacks, and finally, the blessing to make the album of my dream," LA -based "Ho-Wop" crooner Eamon wrote within a heart-felt Facebook post this past Thursday afternoon. "Be My Girl" is Eamon 's first single in over a decade, his first since "(How Could You) Bring Him Home?" from his 2006 sophomore album, Love & Pain . Many of you, much like myself, may remember Eamon from his break-out hit for Jive Records , "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)" released back in 2006, which I believe was one of the first radio hits I had ever heard with a [bleeped out] curse word. "I'm back with a hunger like I haven't had since I was a 10-year-old kid singing with my father and the...

Full disclosure: Lions producer-guitarist and founding member Dan Ubick and I are friends, frequent collaborators, and mutual fans of each others' collected bodies of work (or at least, I would like to think so). With that said, it's really a no-brainer that nearly any given time Ubick and his number of creative outlets decide to unleash genre-blending music upon the unsuspecting world, I'm ecstatic to have the opportunity to write a piece centered around it; I've previously had the wonderful opportunity to interview Dan twice before, coinciding with the releases of The Lions' This Generation and Soul Riot, as well as having the coveted honor to premier their Ross Harris-directed Clash re-interpretation, "The Magnificent Dance." In addition to The Lions and former Stones Throw-signed Funk/Breakbeat group Breakestra, Ubick has been fortunate enough to work with everyone from Snoop Lion to storied emcee Big Daddy Kane and even formed his own The Beatles/S...

Now, I wouldn't exactly go ahead and bet my life on it, but I'm almost positive the first Hip-Hop album I ever bought with my own money was Will Smith's squeaky clean, parent-approved Big Willie Style (1997) and after that, I believe it was the slightly less embarrassing and arguably, far more genre-shaping Power In Numbers (2002) by recently reformed Los Angeles six-piece Jurassic 5. Hip-Hop, as you well know even if you just remotely follow this very publication, is by far one of my all-time favorite genres, along with Hardcore Punk and Indie Rock. Throughout the five or so years I've been single-handedly running The Witzard, I believe I've done a few of these Best of... or year-end lists (most recently, in 2013). While there were a handful of undoubtedly great Indie Rock, R&B, Punk, etc. albums released throughout the course of 2015, I've decided to compile a Hip-Hop-centric Top 10; with that said, here are a few cross-genre honorable mentions worth a s...

"We have filmed a new video for our cover of The Clash 's "Magnificent Dance" with director Ross Harris . It is currently in England being animated and should air sometime in the next month or so," Lion -master Dan Ubick wrote in an emailed conversation about a month ago. "I am excited, as we've attempted a couple videos for other songs, and they didn't pan out. Even Ross' rough cut looks amazing because he brought great energy, ideas, and professionalism to the set. Super psyched to see how [our] tribute to Joe Strummer & The Clash turns out," Ubick enthusiastically continued. The Lions let loose their Stones Throw -pressed second album, Soul Riot back in February and it quickly became one of my favorite albums of 2015 right alongside MR. WONDERFUL , Detroit's Son, Uptown Special , and recent addition Yours, Dreamily . Not too far off from their first album, This Generation , Soul Riot is a well-executed R&B -leaning, h...