Tall Black Guy “Let’s Take a Trip” 10th Anniversary (18+)
The Regent Theater101 West 5th Street, Los Angeles 90013
Tall Black Guy brings Let’s Take a Trip to The Regent Theater for the album’s 10th-anniversary show. The Detroit producer, Terrel Wallace, is billed under his Tall Black Guy project rather than as a conventional band. Available information does not specify who, if anyone, will join him onstage, but the occasion centers on the record whose sample-built hip-hop reaches into soul, jazz and funk.
Detroit-born Wallace has become a standard bearer for the current hip-hop beats scene, recognized for clever sample flips and deft production. His largely instrumental work combines sampled material with original instrumentation, favoring mellow passages as readily as hard drums. He has worked with Zo!, Ozay Moore, 80s Babies, DJ Vadim, Skyzoo, Masego and Moonchild; the Zo! collaboration Abstractions also involved Phonte, Sy Smith, Omar, Elzhi and Black Milk. Bandcamp Daily wrote that he puts “his own spin on traditional rap sounds,” while AllMusic called Let’s Take a Trip a “subtly emotive” fusion and highlighted Wallace’s “sharp discernment.”
The Regent’s story as a 1914 movie house is still visible in its proscenium arch and surviving plasterwork, now framing a concert room with a sloping floor and second-floor mezzanine. Most shows are ticketed and standing-room only, though occasional seated events are marked as first come, first served; check your event listing for its format and door time, and buy ahead for popular dates, since some sell out. The room is set up for live music, with the mezzanine offering another view of the stage. Before the show, you can get wood-fired pizza and other bites at Prufrock Pizzeria inside the venue, or drinks at the attached Love Song bar. The Regent is on South Main Street in Downtown’s Bank District, a short walk from Pershing Square station.