As someone who puts his ears to the NOW and FUTURE of art being created, sonically or otherwise, it is always refreshing to find one of those group of people coming toGether to make something that I wish I was involved in. Music with a sense…art with senses. I believe that is what I have found in the group Sidewalk Chalk. They combine humanity with hip hop, jazz and soul to create a message for the body and the mind.
Sidewalk Chalk will be in Madison on Thursday, August 3rd at The Frequency. I was able to catch up with Charles and he helped chalk up a mental image of what those in attendance will see before the first note explodes. We spent time talking about the sharpness within their fourth full-length album, “An Orchid Is Born”, on Ropeadope Records which was produced by Grammy Award-winner Robert “Sput” Searight. This is the album that Sidewalk Chalk believes they have truly always been trying to make. They have grown as people in all sorts of directions since they first started and this release has woven many of these experiences and the happening of today into that next step of music, that next step of life and for us, the listener….that next step of listening and feeling. This album is cerebral, dance-able and thoughtful, and I as a sharer of sound, look forward to curating it into set-lists into the future.
Charles shared what he has been listening to on many of the long drives, as this group takes their show out and on the road often, and being with the people in different spots is key to driving them into their next set of experiences. We here in Madison get to be some of the lucky ones to share in a moment with them as they bring that sharpness and mind moving grooves here for us to join in the difference making.
