A high-powered national tour featuring two world-class producers and a cavalcade of talent stops in Columbus this week. The Midnight Hour will present a concert at Strongwater, 401 West Town Street in Franklinton, on Thursday, October 3rd at 7pm. Tickets are available here. Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge – the pair behind the score for the Netflix series Marvel’s Luke Cage – will lead their 10-piece ensemble, The Midnight Hour, featuring collaborative opening sets from the group’s vocalists Loren Oden and Angela Muñoz, and guitarist Jack Waterson. Columbus DJs Pos2 and O-Sharp of “The Redo” will add a vinyl soundtrack before and after the show. Strongwater is emerging as a go-to venue for Columbus music, including an intimate series of Monday night shows, and this special event will be a well-timed showcase. Keep reading for more detail on the tour from the venue:
The Midnight Hour is Black excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, alongside a tight rhythm section complete with horns and strings.
Last June, 2018, The Midnight Hour debuted their self-titled album to great reviews and toured the US extensively. “It was during that tour last year that we decided to record a live album, capturing this new experience. The music you hear in our studio album is how we mean it to sound. But it’s something totally different when we have an audience in front of us. This recording is us wanting to give people a chance to hear what they can expect when they see us live.” On February 22nd, 2019, The Midnight Hour performed in front of a live studio audience at Linear Labs. This was a direct-to-analog tape recording that 200 very lucky fans were a part of.
Adrian and Ali began working on the debut Midnight Hour album in 2013, but put the project aside as they would score the hit Netflix series Marvel’s Luke Cage. The Midnight Hour is a soul/jazz/hip hop album which continues the conversations started by yesterday’s jazz and funk pioneers; those that created the bedrock of samples for hip hop producers in the 80s/90s. The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip hop that fans will enjoy, capturing their jazz rhythm section, and a full orchestra reminiscent of the maestros such as David Axelrod and Quincy Jones.