WijeratneWorks ft. Skratch Bastid

Coming off his hip-hop/classical arrangements with Buck 65 and Symphony Nova Scotia a year ago, Dinuk Wijerante returned to the stage to premiere WijeratneWorks, an electro-acoustic hip-hop hybrid that had the young composer mixing atmospheric keyboards with the complex DJing of Halifax's own Skratch Bastid. Broken up into three 20-minute epics, Wijeratne's compositions took on a life of their own, as Reeny Smith's jazz vocals soared across the festival grounds, while drummer Dave Burton's understated percussion drove the hip-hop-inspired instrumentals forward. The highlight of the night came when the group performed their last song, a haunting, witch-house-style composition that saw Bastid scratching to samples plundered from a 1940s Sherlock Holmes film, providing a far from elementary concert performance.