June 24-30, 2004

musicpicks

Moqita

DANCE/ELECTRONIC

As years go by, a drum and bass producer might get fed up with drilling his/her own head with breakneck tech-step beats and foghorn basslines. JG (Justin Geller) and J. Smooth dented the American side of d'n'b with funky, lip-smacking jungle tunes under the name GFS. They even got signed to Warner Brothers. Unfortunately — cue the classic major label horror story soundtrack — they got swallowed up by the AOL Time Warner mega-corporation mayhem, and nothing came out of it. But JG isn't through. He teamed up with childhood friend Billy Blaise and together they spawned the Moqita outfit. Blaise is a gifted jazz musician, playing flute, sax, piano and whatever else you put in front of him. JG works the sequences and beats on his laptop. The result is a laid-back, jazzy, trip-hoppin' smooth ride that blends perfectly with a dry martini, as if Stan Getz and Massive Attack butted heads, then suddenly melted into one.

Sun., June 27, 9-11 p.m., free, all ages, Rx, 4443 Spruce St., 215-222-9590.

—Sean O'Neal