Chosen By The Funk Presents: The Great Equalizer - A Variety Show

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- For the fourth consecutive year, performance artist, writer, dancer, and Gamut Gallery member Bobby Kahn returns to the old firehouse at Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis to present a variety show featuring comedy, dance, performance art and music acts. The show, called The Great Equalizer, will take place at 8 PM on April 28 and 29 at The Hook and Ladder Theater, continuing an annual tradition that began when the venue was operated by Patrick’s Cabaret.

For his first two shows, Bobby tapped into his social circle and booked mostly friends and acquaintances to perform. He realized he didn’t put enough effort into booking a diverse cast, and it showed. During that time, Bobby also attended several events where he was one of few white people in the room. These experiences prodded him to get out and try new things and meet new people.  Along the way, he found inspiration from many talented artists across many disciplines and expanded his network significantly. The Great Equalizer is a testament to that.

Performers in the show are ages 12 through 66, female, male, queer, straight, transgender, cisgender, veteran performers, emerging artists, American-born, foreign-born, white, black, Puerto Rican, everybody just a freakin’.

Once they hit the stage and feel the lights, all of these distinctions melt away. Anyone can be a star when given the chance to shine. The stage is The Great Equalizer.

While most of the acts are performing for Bobby for the first time, Hola Agua, a band fronted by 12-year-old Luna Hastur will return for an encore. At the age of 10, Hastur stole the show at Bobby’s 2015 show, and she and her adult bandmates received a standing ovation both nights. The only other return performer is Dani Frame, who has played second fiddle (or second banjo, more like) in previous shows but never had an act of her own.

The show will also feature Voice of Culture Drum & Dance (led by Kenna Cottman), a comedy act by New Year’s Steve (AKA musician, comedian, and artist Michael Gaughan), multiple dances from Energy Dance Collective, a reading by Patrick’s Cabaret board member Tom Cassidy, dance performances by Rikyrah Snow and Her Queens and Jaime Ramberg, and a musical performance by Simon Chama.

In a departure from his previous shows, Bobby will take a backseat as a performer and serve as host and MC.  

After the show ends, the stage will open to the audience for a dance party featuring a live techno set by Modwell on April 28 and a DJ set by Michelle Muse on April 29.

About Bobby Kahn/Chosen By The Funk
Bobby Kahn is a performance artist, writer, cable access television personality, Gamut Gallery member, dance class instructor and event curator/promoter in Minneapolis. He got his start as an artist on the wild cable access show Freaky Deeky and from there expanded into live performance and writing. He organized several Freaky Deeky live performances at venues including First Avenue and the Zombie Pub Crawl.  He produced and starred in variety shows as a guest curator at Patrick’s Cabaret in both 2014 and 2015. In 2016, Bobby and some friends launched a new comedy cable access show called And Now It’s. 2016 also saw Bobby’s debut as a feature writer for The Current’s Local Current Blog, as well as the launch of his Chosen By The Funk website, which covers the arts on a mostly local level. In December 2016, Bobby expanded Chosen By The Funk into an event promotion company with events at First Avenue (Get Together 7) and The Hook and Ladder Theater (Minneapolis Sound 2.0). Bobby curated and performed in both events. He will be promoting and hosting a Prince tribute event on April 21, 2017 in the Seventh Street Entry featuring Detroit DJ Moodymann.

Press Inquiries
Bobby Kahn//rbkahn@gmail.com//612-710-0741

Links
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/320863731644772/
4/28 Tickets: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1444220?utm_medium=bks
4/29 Tickets: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1444228?utm_medium=bks
http://www.chosenbythefunk.com

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Chosen By The Funk Presents: Deep Purple - A Tribute For The Heads Featuring Moodymann

For Immediate Release

Chosen By The Funk Presents: Deep Purple – A Prince Tribute For The Heads Featuring Moodymann

A chance encounter at First Avenue after the Xcel Center Prince tribute with Prince super fan and Detroit house producer/DJ Moodymann leads to a Prince tribute event taking place on April 21, 2017 at the Seventh Street Entry.

Kenny Dixon Jr. is a very devoted Prince fan, with a love so deep that he turned his Detroit home into a private museum after the Minneapolis icon’s passing last year. Purple curtains were flown through every window and Prince’s music was blasted loudly through speakers, echoing down the block around the clock for over a month straight after Prince passed. 

Dixon Jr., better known as Moodymann, is a 25-year veteran as a producer and DJ of house, funk, and jazz music, and a Detroit legend. He has professed his love of Prince throughout his career, sampling his music and adopting his writing style in song titles (example: Lyk U Use 2).

He will be coming to Minneapolis to DJ for the first time ever to pay tribute to his musical hero on the one -year anniversary of Prince’s death, April 21, 2017, starting at 9 PM at the Seventh Street Entry at First Avenue for the Chosen By The Funk event Deep Purple – A Prince Tribute For The Heads. The story of how this show came to be is almost too strange to be real. Almost.

Inspired by the all-night dance parties at First Avenue following Prince’s passing, Minneapolis event promoter, writer, and performance artist Bobby Kahn has been on quite the journey over the past year. He covered the all-night parties for The Current and energized by the packed dance floors and communal vibes of those long nights, he decided to promote and host events that both celebrate Minneapolis’ funky history, while also helping to pave the way for the success of the Minneapolis Sound in a post-Prince world.  The concept of Minneapolis Sound 2.0 was born.

While in Detroit for the annual Movement Electronic Music Festival in May 2016, Bobby and a friend got out of their car to visit a techno museum,  and they immediately heard a familiar voice coming from a house across the street. The voice belonged to Prince. They went to check out the house,  which was Dixon’s house/private Prince museum in all its purple glory. Bobby had heard Dixon was a Prince fan, but as he stood outside the house that day, he knew he had to get Dixon to play a Prince event, somehow.

Photo taken by Bobby on 5/29/16.

A few months later, on the night of the Xcel Center Prince tribute event, Bobby was in the audience at First Avenue for a Morris Day & The Time after party. As Stevie Wonder sat upstairs, some 50 feet away, Bobby’s heart filled with purple joy when he spotted someone in the crowd who looked familiar.

His jaw dropped. It was Kenny Dixon Jr., who had made the trek from Detroit solely as a Prince fan. The two chatted about Prince and Detroit for a few minutes, and Bobby told Dixon he hoped to book him to play First Avenue someday. Never in his wildest dreams did Bobby think that day would be on the one-year anniversary of Prince’s death, but the Purple One works his magic in mysterious ways.
 

Bobby and Kenny at First Avenue, on October 13, 2016.

For Deep Purple, Dixon will play an extended set as Moodymann, sharing his incredibly deep collection of Prince rarities and b-sides. He will be joined by local house music heavyweights Daniel Paul Cortez and Christian James, as well as openers Miss Elaine Eos b2b (back-to-back) Medicinall for a night filled with Prince’s music as well as music inspired by Prince. Bobby will serve as host for the evening, which will also feature visuals by Hal Lovemelt. 

About Moodymann:
An outspoken voice in the normally non-confrontational world of electronic dance music, Moodymann (Kenny Dixon Jr.) is committed to keeping a distinctly black imprint on techno and house. Over a 25 year career, he has put out countless classic releases on his KDJ and Mahogani Music record labels.

Moodymann sound is a hybrid form of techno/house dance music arrived at via innovative use of reworked riffs, samples and grooves. While he may frustrate people with his refusal to be interviewed and insistence on reminding people of the genre's origins, the soulfulness of his output is unquestioned. Utilizing classic soul and jazz samples, low-slung bass lines and an approach to drum programming that is diametrically opposed to the tendency to push the tempo faster and faster, he has achieved classic status thanks to gems like "Sunday Morning", "Shades of Jae", and his remix of Innerzone Orchestra's "People Make the World Go Round". Following years of 12" only releases, he compiled his best work on "Silentintroduction", one of the most celebrated albums of the late 90s.

About Bobby Kahn/Chosen By The Funk:
Bobby Kahn is a performance artist, writer, cable access television personality, dance class instructor and event curator/promoter in Minneapolis. He got his start as an artist on the wild cable access show Freaky Deeky and from there expanded into live performance and writing. He organized several Freaky Deeky live performances at venues including First Avenue and the Zombie Pub Crawl.  He produced and starred in variety shows as a guest curator at Patrick’s Cabaret in both 2014 and 2015. In 2016, Bobby and some friends launched a new comedy cable access show called And Now It’s. 2016 also saw Bobby’s debut as a feature writer for The Current’s Local Current Blog, as well as the launch of his Chosen By The Funk website, which covers the arts on a mostly local level. In December 2016, Bobby expanded Chosen By The Funk into an event promotion company with events at First Avenue (Get Together 7) and The Hook and Ladder Theater (Minneapolis Sound 2.0). Bobby curated and performed in both events. He has another two-night variety show, called The Great Equalizer, taking place April 28 & 29, 2017 at the Hook and Ladder Theater.

Press Inquiries:
Bobby Kahn//rbkahn@gmail.com//612-710-0741

Links:
First Avenue event
Facebook event
https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/moodymann
https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/moodymann-prince-home-detroit-movement
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2016/05/first-avenues-overnight-dance-parties-epitomized-the-spirit-of-prince/

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