EDIT: THE TOUR
Mark Stewart, vocalist & prime mover of the Pop Group, now cited as one of the most influential post-punk bands, formed The Maffia in the 80s, releasing a range of heavily politicised, boundary-pushing albums fusing electronic, dub, twisted disco, post-punk, funk & industrial-strength hip-hop into a unique ground-breaking sound.
Mark Stewart brought Black music influences into Punk for the first time influencing a generation.
The Maffia features legendary New York musicians Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc & Skip McDonald. From their early days playing alongside Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata & Sugarhill Gang the group have since played with everyone from Mos Def to The Last Poets, from James Brown to George Clinton.
At the controls of The Maffia's sound is Adrian Sherwood (On U Sound) who has an incredible list of credits that include Lee Perry, Bim Sherman, Andrew Weatherall, Primal Scream & many more.
Mark Stewart practically invented The Bristol Sound and influenced the music of friends & collaborators Massive Attack, Tricky etc.
More info at http://www.myspace.com/markstewartmaffia
MEET THE MAFFIA
Skip McDonald - Guitar
Doug Wimbish - Bass
Keith LeBlanc - Drums
Adrian Sherwood - production
The core of the Maffia is made up of guitarist Skip McDonald, bass player Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc. Having worked together in a band called Wood, Brass and Steel in 1996, McDonald and Wimbish teamed up with LeBlanc in 1979 to form the house band for the pioneering rap label Sugar Hill.
The trio played on some of the earliest rap hits such as The Message and White Lines (Don't Do It), provided the music for some of the most seminal records of the era by Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata, Force M.D.'s and others.
While they worked at Sugarhill, LeBlanc also freelanced at Tommy Boy Records where he first met Adrian Sherwood. LeBlanc introduced his colleagues to Sherwood and the trio were persuaded to relocate in London where Sherwood had set up his On-U Sound records in 1980.
Upon their entry into the On-U Sound fold, the group formed a production team and, again, a house band, this time for On-U. The three participated in dozens of records on Sherwood's label, bringing a new power and definition to the company's densely-textured recordings.
Together they formed the radical cutting edge ensemble Tackhead, best known for their eclectic funk-metal underground sound. That combo has since written, produced and played for a wide array of international artists including Bim Sherman (reggae balladeer), Audio Active (Japanese industrial), Primal Scream (with Irvine Welsh) and African Head Charge.
More Maffia info:
http://www.myspace.com/adrianmaxwellsherwood
http://www.tackhead.com/soloheads/
http://www.myspace.com/tackhead2008
http://www.myspace.com/keithleblanc
http://www.myspace.com/dougwimbish
From 8pm in The Ballroom. Advance tickets £18 (stbf) from Tickets Scotland, Ripping, Underground Solushun, The Voodoo Rooms, online at www.ticketweb.co.uk or by phone on 0132 220 3234 .
