RZA to Go Medieval With ’36 Chambers’ Orchestral Concerts
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Always one to balk in the face of convention, RZA this fall will turn the orchestral concept of “chamber music” — small ensembles playing ornate works — into “chambers music”: a symphony orchestra interpreting Wu-Tang Clan’s blockbuster 1993 debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) live onstage. The performances will take place at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre on Nov. 7, 8, and 9 — the last date of which marks the album’s 30th anniversary. The gigs are billed with a mouthful of a title: “36 Chambers of Shaolin and a Ballet Through Mud.” On Instagram, he promises “a live orchestra experience.”
Presale tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster. They go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. SIT (Staten Island Time).
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Brooklyn Vegan reports that RZA debuted his “Ballet Through Mud” earlier this year in Denver, incorporating both orchestral music and ballet. “As an artist, I’m always striving for ways to grow and evolve, and when you get a chance to hear your music translated by an orchestra, it’s so fulfilling, the vibration of it, the feel of it,” he said at the time. A press release for the New York events used the “36 Chambers of Shaolin and a Ballet Through Mud” title, though the Ticketmaster links use only “A Ballet Through Mud.”
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), which features the singles “Protect Ya Neck” and “C.R.E.A.M.” ranked Number Eight on Rolling Stone’s list of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time last year. “RZA’s sample collages set a new standard for hard-elbowed beats, and the Clan’s verses showed a stunning range of craftsmanship: the multisyllabic wisdom of U-God, the brainy arrogance of Inspectah Deck, the street-level insights of Raekwon, the crooked pop instincts of Method Man, the free-form wit of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, the keyed-up yelp of Ghostface Killah,” the blurb said. “The sheer density of slang-encrusted myth-making on Enter the Wu-Tang made an entire generation of MCs step up their lingo and laid the blueprint for outsized crews to come from Odd Future to Spillage Village and beyond.”
In 2014, RZA told Rolling Stone what made Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) special. “Our first album sounded so beautiful because even though I wasn’t on ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ and Ghost wasn’t on ‘C.R.E.A.M.,’ we was there when ‘C.R.E.A.M.’ was made,” he said. “It’s the capture of time and space; it’s the capture of energy.” (Note: RZA produced the original “C.R.E.A.M.”)
Aside from the 36 Chambers celebrations, the full Wu-Tang Clan will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of rap music next week at the Hip-Hop 50 Forever concert at Madison Square Garden. Mary J. Blige, EPMD, Tyrese, Sean Paul, Mariah Carey, Maxwell, and Funk Flex are all set to appear at the gig on Sept. 15. They’ll also tour with Nas and De La Soul for the NY State of Mind Tour.
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