Kassa Overall

About this event

“Raw, underground, and chaotic…one of modern jazz music’s most audacious futurists.” – Pitchfork Revered by living icons and underground tastemakers, Kassa Overall began his career behind the drum kit. At the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Overall spent his days studying jazz drums and music theory, and his evenings making beats in his dorm room, often staying home from parties to pull all-nighters in front of his MPC, studio monitors, and an open Pro Tools session. At Oberlin, he met musicians who remain his closest musical collaborators to this day. Overall’s groundbreaking solo projects have established him as a driving force on the international stage, fielding support from visionaries including Thom Yorke, Iggy Pop, Virgil Abloh, and more. His first studio album, GO GET ICE CREAM AND LISTEN TO JAZZ (2019) bore witness to the emergence of a sound that layered the virtuosic drumming, polyrhythmic rapping, and meticulous production techniques he had honed separately. On 2020’s I THINK I’M GOOD, his voice continued to crystallize, critiquing the injustices of the carceral system, the pharmaceutical industry, and anti-black racism. With ANIMALS, released in 2023 on Warp Records, he further showcased the breadth of his songwriting, production chops and unique rhythmic sensibility. On CREAM, his latest solo studio album, Overall pays homage to the twin passions of his youth – hip-hop and jazz drums in the tradition of Elvin Jones. With this collection of instrumentals, the visionary drummer and producer transforms beloved songs from the 90s and aughts into timeless standards that are rhythmically adventurous, witty, and often sublime. Kassa Overall Website (Ticket Includes 5% City of Santa Cruz Admission Tax)