Our 2010 Gnawledge tour visited Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Seattle from May 13th to June 5th.  Betwixt official performances were curbside cyphers, neighborhood juergas and latenight house parties.

May 13th — Our first show (photo above) was a Granada Doaba improv experiment featuring 3 rappers, 3 flamenco guitarists, 2 hand percussionists and a dancer.  Performing at Los Angeles’ historic flamenco venue El Cid, Granada Doaba featured acoustic freestlyles from Mandeep Sethi & Moses Soweto-Tsali, and a funky set by our good friends LoCura.

May 24th — We celebrated 6 years of Gnawledge in Boston with a party at Beat Research.  The night began with an acoustic version of Buena Vista Social Club’s “Chan Chan” featuring Gnotes on guitar, Noni Kai on vocals and Afro DZ ak on trumpet (video above).

The show transitioned into a tropical bass DJ set from Canyon Cody, who debuted the newest Gnawledge album Panama Doaba.  Read more about the Boston party at Wayne&Wax and check photos del amigo Zach Cole.

May 27th — The Gnawledge NYC Showcase featured 4 Gnawledge MCs and guest appearances from 3 New York locals. Hosted by Brooklyn veteran the1shanti [pictured above with Gnotes and Mighty Om], the crowd got rowdy for Nyle x Naysayers, a four-peice hip-hop band with a charismatic frontman (Nyle) and an amazing drummer (Isaac Teel).

Gnawledge performed a medley of new/old material from the last 6 years.  Multi-instrumentalist rappers Gnotes and Afro DZ traded verses from their solo albums, and played flamenco guitar & trumpet in support of Boston soul singer Noni Kai, who showcased her beautiful voice during an acoustic Granada Doaba performance. Gnawledge was also joined on-stage by guest percussionist Duke Mushroom from Harlem’s Earthrise Soundsystem, an immensely talented musician who brought a goodie-bag of global drums and transformed the rap concert into a dance party.

May 28th — Our cumbia hip-hop remezclas Panama Doaba got heavy rotation in New York, where DJ Canyon Cody performed with Afro DZ ak and the1shanti at a Williamsburg house party (photo above).  Produced by Gnotes, Panama Doaba explores the funky isthmus in the 1970s as a tropical bass follow-up to Granada Doaba.  An unruly Brooklyn house party was the perfect way to unwind after our big concert, and it was our first chance to rock with Cumba Mela, an NYC global bass DJ trio that knows how to throw a damn fiesta.

May 29th –  After playing with Gnawledge at Santos, Duke Mushroom invited Afro DZ ak to perform at the Globesonic show on the Hudson Pier (photos above).  It was a beautiful summer evening for a free outdoor party, with more than 1,000 people dancing to 3 outstanding DJs (Derek Beres, Fabian Alsultany & Bill Braggin) accompanied by the impeccable percussion of Duke Mushroom and mighty trumpet of Afro DZ ak (video below).

May 30th & 31st — DJ Canyon Cody got back on the decks at Love, a Greenwich club with an absolutely immense soundsystem, and then Bembe, a Brooklyn dance club with a reputation for hot&sweaty bootyshaking.  Hosted by DJs Atropolis, Thornato and 2melo from Cumba Mela, the weekly cumbia convocation at Bembe is a superb scene, with passionate live drumming and a sensual dance crowd. Como un pez en agua, Canyon Cody kept the party jumping with help from the1shanti and Gnotes on the mic [photo below]

June 5th – After New York, Gnotes and Canyon Cody went back to Seattle for a Gnawledge rap show with Elemental Zazen and Irenic. Zazen — who recently leaked his new track featuring Canibus — performed his new song “Lockjaw” produced by Seattle-native Jake One (video below).

With the Spring 2010 tour done, Gnawledge will soon release Panama Doaba while finishing final touches on upcoming solo albums from Elemental Zazen and Gnotes.

The Gnawledge crew will be in LA on Friday April 9th for a show with Ugly Duckling (video below) at The Airliner.  Gnotes will debut new material from his upcoming album Conflicts and Interest, featuring collaborations with Devin the Dude, Blockhead, Illmind, Metaform and Elemental Zazen.

With quality boombap every Friday, Urban Underground Weekly at The Airliner is one of the last true-school hiphop nights in LA —> so far in 2010 they’ve hosted Keith Murray, Pigeon Jon, Sunspot Jonz, Abstract Rude, Mr. Lif and Akrobatik

Come early –> Gnotes is on-stage @ 9pm sharp.

Gnotes will be joined on-stage by fellow gnawledge bredren Mandeep Sethi, who just released The Worlds Gone Mad, a new free EP featuring “Props 3” produced by Gnotes.  Mandeep will also be performing on Monday April 5th at Machine Project in Echo Park alongside tabla guru Robin Sukhadia.

Gnawledge is proud to welcome a new artist to our collective, San Francisco-based rapper Mandeep Sethi. Representing the Universal Zulu Nation, Mandeep Sethi is an old-school MC with an escuela nueva vision for global hip-hop. Politically radical and funky as fuck, Mandeep Sethi was Gnawledge family from the jump, the perfect MC for an eclectic collective like Granada Doaba.

On tour with Granada Doaba, Mandeep Sethi rocks with a live band and then keeps the after-party hype with the DJ.  But the truest test of any MC is inside the cipher, trading bars on-stage freestyling with fellow Gnawledge rappers Gnotes and Afro DZ [video above].

Mandeep Sethi got flow like Niagara — can’t stop, won’t stop.  Ever-scribbling, Mandeep released two free mixtapes in 2009: Set&Ra [produced by Povan Beats] and Paleofuture [produced by Deacon LF, video below].

Mandeep freely distributes his music online because he makes an honest living working on-stage, regularly performing in the Bay [and beyond] with the All-Mighty Family and Non-Stop Bhangra.  He’s done concerts from Spain to India alongside Afrika Bambaataa, Ziggy Marley, Camp Lo, RZA, Killah Priest, Michael Franti & Spearhead, with upcoming shows at 111 Minna, Element Lounge, Rickshaw Stop and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Stay up with Mandeep Sethi @ Twitter, Facebook & MySpace.

The sold-out LoCura / Granada Doaba concert in San Francisco was estupendo. 500 [and two] people packed the Independent for a high-energy flamenco hip-hop performance featuring appearances from more than 20 live musicians, culminating in a LoCura/Gnawledge collaboration [see video below], featuring Mandeep Sethi y La Kata shining bright on the mic in front of their hometown crowd.

Granada Doaba gave its best performance to date. Gnotes stretched his muscle on the flamenco guitar and cajón. Boston Gnawledge bredren Afro DZ ak proved once again that a party aint a party until a trumpet come through.  Both musicians passed the microphone with Mandeep Sethi during our freestyle rap cypher.

The concert was a coming-out party for our 19-year-old singer Elexis Trinity, who continues to surprise and impress, while veteran touring musicians Teddy Jack and Rod Martinez held down the ritmo and kept the crowd moving. Daniel Eshoo brought an inmense sound out of his 77-string qanun, taking full advantage of the phenomenon sound system at the Independent. DJ Canyon Cody was dancing in the back, while artist Carmen Abelleira painted La Virgen de Guadalupe rocking out with an electric guitar.

The night began with a beautiful set from Mexican songstress Diana Gameros on guitar, accompanied by flute, cajón and stand-up bass. Gameros is too talented to remain unknown for much longer, so it felt like a special treat to catch her at this stage in her career.

Pero sin duda, lo más impresionante fue LoCura. The San Francisco band had the rowdy crowd dancing throughout their amazing 2-hour set, which ranged from up-tempo reggae to soulful flamenco and funky Cuban son. It’s hard not to be jealous when I see a band that tight. A veteran band with years of experience on the road, LoCura came home and proved that they got the groove in the pocket. It was an honor to share the stage with them, and some of the most fun I’ve ever had.

LoCura will be performing at South by Southwest on March 19th @ Copa Bar & Grill.  Their 2008 debut album Animas is available at CdBaby and iTunes, plus they got a brand new album in the oven.

With the Gnawledge family in San Francisco for the Granada Doaba concert with LoCura, we all got together to celebrate Mandeep Sethi’s 21st birthday with a great party sponsored by the All Mighty Family, with a special guest appearance from DJ T-Frequency from the Zulu Nation (pictured above w/ Mandeep).

Photo gallery @ SUCKAFREEZE

The party was blessed with a rare West Coast appearance by Gnawledge trumpeteer Afro DZ ak, who jammed along saxophonist Brandon Michael McKee to the outernational hiphop stylings of DJ Canyon Cody (below).

Always a man of the people, Afro doesn’t perform… he participates, getting down on the dance floor with the huddled sexy masses.

Everyone in the Bay that likes to get down should stay up with the whole All Mighty Family (DJ Mes 1, Mighty Delrokz, DJ Merrick, Mighty Chris, Mandeep Sethi) with upcoming parties @ Element Lounge (Jan 23), @ Sutra (Jan 29), @ 111 Minna (Jan 30) and @ Risque Lounge (Feb 26).