Pianist Kris Bowers delivers his take on Kendrick Lamar's "Rigamortus" with a stunning instrumental cover of the track that plays with the spelling of the title - Bowers' take is dubbed "Rigamortis" - and samples Eric Reed's "The Thorn." The track composed by Reed - Bowers' mentor and former teacher at Juilliard - appears on drummer Willie Jones III's 2010 release, The Next Phase. "Rigamortis" connects one rising Cali artist to another, with the Angeleno wunderkind serving up his own take on the standout from the Compton MC's 2011 Section.80 mixtape. The result is a track that plays like an olive branch from one standard-bearer to the next, as Bowers delivers a solo performance built upon a solid foundation of traditional performance techniques that reimagine a hip-hop track with respect to its ability to reimagine a jazz composition given the limitations of sample time. Bowers manipulates the guts of the grand piano and employs a technological trick or two in order to achieve the desired sound, which includes a steady tick that may come in handy if he ever gets to perform this track with K.Dot. Check the footage below to watch Kris Bowers' performance of "Rigamortis." Pre-order Bowers' Heroes + Misfits LP via iTunes. Get more on Bowers and his forthcoming project via Revive.
