DJ Logic and Project Logic to bring jazz blend to M-Shop

Josh Nelson

With the turntable scratching, house beats, and jazz-fusion rhythms, Project Logic and its leader DJ Logic seem to be a true anomaly in the world of music.

Tonight, DJ Logic (real name Jason Kibler) and Project Logic will bring its blend of electronic jazz to the Maintenance Shop.

Hardly able to be pigeon-holed in one simple genre, the group has already been compared to turntable virtuoso Kid Koala, as well as modern-day jazz saints Medeski, Martin and Wood, both of whom DJ Logic has shared the stage with.

“We’re just out stretching the boundaries, and we’ll be out here as long as people will be enjoying the music, enjoying the art, and keeping the wax hot,” Kibler said.

The story of DJ Logic spans back to the Bronx, right as hip-hop got its start. Before he was Logic, Kibler was an enthusiast of hip-hop, jazz and basketball.

“It was a great learning experience; there were a lot of cats coming out of the Bronx with great music,” Kibler said.

After he got a set of turntables for Christmas, it was only a matter of time before he had started to play out with other musicians.

After joining his first band, an alternative rock outfit named Eye and I, Kibler began to tour with other musicians, including Living Color. From that tour, Kibler met Vernon Reid, lead guitarist for Living Color, forming a relationship that would lead up to the formation of Project Logic.

“It was fun then, people looked at my turntables as another instrument in the group. . It kept me open to all forms of music,” Kibler said.

Throughout the next few years, Kibler was open to playing with a number of musicians in any genre of music, including bluegrass group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Now with a new group, Project Logic, and a new album, “The Anomaly,” Logic plans on continuing his success as a turntablist and pushing the boundaries of music.

Even with “The Anomaly,” Logic has shown that he is concerned with progression. With Scott Harding, producer of albums by the Wu Tang Clan, Gravediggaz, Deltron 3030, and Stereo MC’s, Melvin Gibbs, former bassist of the Henry Rollins Band, Vernon Reid on guitar, and John Medeski on organ, the album was a representation of the diverse background that Kibler comes from.

“Everyone sat down and talked about what we wanted. They all saw my visions and ideas, and turned around and made some great music,” Kibler said.

He said he plans to continue pushing the boundaries of music.

“I’ll be out there taking the creativity to a whole new level, just coming out with all new forms of music,” Kibler said.