Tonight, Unlooped Vs. Marvin Gaye is playing at Alverno's Pitman Theater as part of the Alverno Presents concert series. We had a chance to talk to a few of the performers about the project and preview a few songs. Kiings, Klassik, Alida, and Chris Porterfield are just a handful of the many musicians that are working on the reinterpretation of the classic album.
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1976: Marvin Gaye is at his professional peak. But his personal life is in crisis. His marriage to Anna Gordy (boss Berry Gordy’s sister) is over.
Gaye is low on money, making alimony and child support impossible. The solution? Anna will receive the royalties from Gaye’s next and as-of-yet unrealized album. This inspires Here, My Dear, Gaye’s most artistically challenging work chronicling his and Anna’s courtship, marriage and break-up. 1978: Here, My Dear is released. Critics hate it, Gaye’s fans reject it, and Anna considers suing for invasion of privacy. 1994: Ten years after Gaye is fatally shot by his father, the reassessments begin. Here, My Dear is voted one of the greatest albums in music history by Mojo Magazine (1995) and Rolling Stone (2003).
2010: DJ/Producer Tarik Moody creates Unlooped to foster new collaborations between musicians with electronic music as its base. 2011: Moody curates Unlooped vs. Dilla, featuring a string quartet, a DJ, and a producer reinterpreting the late, great producer, J. Dilla. 2012: Moody returns with a similarly eclectic ensemble in Unlooped vs. Justin Vernon. 2014: Moody assembles his strongest crew to date to take on Gaye’s magnum opus. A crew that includes Choir Fight, Brendan Benham (Altos), Mark Waldoch (Celebrated Working Man), Christopher Porterfield (Field Report), Zachary Pluer (Herman Astro), Kiings, Alida LaCosse, Klassik, and Dasha Kelly.
