Digable Planets « 30 Years of Blowout Comb »

Digable Planets mark three decades of Blowout Comb at Midway Music Hall in Edmonton on October 28, 2026. The Brooklyn trio — Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Craig “Doodlebug” Irving and Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira — revisit the album that pushed their jazz‑rap further in 1994, blending supple drum breaks, bass‑led loops and unhurried cadences with references to Black movements, street politics and everyday life.

Emerging from the late‑80s underground, the group first took off with Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) and the single Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat), before steering Blowout Comb toward moodier textures and slow‑burn rhythms. On stage, they stretch that palette: relaxed call‑and‑response, interlocking verses, sly nods and sample‑driven grooves that slide from smoky jazz inflections to boom‑bap pulse. The set leans on Blowout Comb while opening windows to Reachin’ and later chapters, tracing a path that led Butler to Shabazz Palaces before the trio regrouped for tours and recordings. Thirty years on, the record’s swing and social focus still shape their flow, with the crowd folded into the pocket as the tracks breathe and expand live.