Grammy-nominated alternative jazz drummer, producer, and rapper Kassa Overall releases "Animals"

The ongoing collaboration between Overall and Butler, two pioneers in the jazz-rap continuum, has its roots in Seattle. Both graduated from Garfield High School, a school in Seattle’s historically black Central District with a long and storied tradition of graduating black genre-shifting musicians, including Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones.

Overall expands on this shared history with how he grew up listening to Digable Planets: "One of my favorite records, and one of the first CDs I ever had, was Reachin’ by Digable Planets. This album was extremely influential as it planted the seed in my mind of what I could one day achieve by utilizing rap production and improvisation/live instruments. Butterfly, aka Ishmael Butler, was the mastermind behind the production in Digable. To work with him today is a sign of completion, and it’s an honor that he recognizes something in me.”

Reciprocating reverence, Butler adds: “You could tell that he’s interpreting influences, but always understanding that the things that have influenced him are often things that are very original. So its like, when you listen to those things, you can sort of like get in the mode of copying them, or you can understand the essence of them, and get influenced by the essence rather than mimic it. What I like about Kass is that he is making his own foray, you know, into the sound. And also the ability, the unique ability, to change genres, rhythm, groove, sound, all in the course of a song, but it still got cohesiveness to it.”

Overall’s new album ANIMALS is out now and since sharing news of the album back in March, Kassa has earned support from The New York Times, Stereogum, Pitchfork, Paste, Treble, Brooklyn Vegan, American Songwriter, NPR Music, among many others. He also delivered a Tiny Desk performance described by the institution as a “virtuosic display of musicianship, lyricism and artistic innovation.”

Ready To Ball Tour

• August 09 - Ronnie Scott’s - London, UK
• August 11 - We Out Here Festival - Dorset, UK
• August 12  - A l’Arme Festival - Berlin, DE
• August 13 - Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt, DE
• August 17 - Cologne Jazzweek - Cologne, DE
• August 25 - The New Parish - Oakland, CA
• August 26 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR
• August 27 - THING Festival - Port Townsend, WA
• September 7 - Hopscotch Festival - Raleigh, NC
• September 9 - 9:30 Club - Washington D.C.*
• September 12 - Starland Ballroom - Sayreville, NJ*
• September 13 - Royale - Boston, MA*
• September 14 - State Theatre - Portland, ME*
• September 15 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT*
• September 16 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA*
• September 19 - Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON*
• September 20 - Town Ballroom - Buffalo, NY*
• September 21 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH*
• September 24 - Emo’s - Austin, TX*
• September 27 - The Cooperage - Milwaukee, WI
• September 28 - Icehouse - Minneapolis, MN
• September 29 - James Theater - Iowa City, IA
• October 19 - WWWX, Tokyo, JP
• October 20 - Billboard Live Osaka, Osaka, JP
• November 01 - Alte Feuerwache, Mannheim, DE
• November 02 - E-werk - Erlangen, DE
• November 03 - Uberjazz Festival, Hamburg, DE
• November 04 - BIRD, Rotterdam, NL
• November 07 - Jassmine, Warsaw, PL
• November 09 - UT Connewitz - Leipzig, DE
• November 10 - Alcazar, Rome, IT
• November 11 - Locomotiv Club, Bologna, IT
• November 12 - Magnolia, Milan, IT
• November 14 - Moods, Zürich, CH
• November 15 - Strange Brew, Bristol, UK
• November 16 - Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, UK
• November 18 - SuperSonic Jazz Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL
• November 21 - AB, Brussels, BE
• November 24 - Sala Paral-lel 62, Barcelona, ES

*Supporting Digable Planets