When jazz label Blue Note Records allowed ’90s hip-hop group Us3 to plunder the label’s extensive jazz catalog for “Hand on the Torch,” many listeners received their first introduction to the possibility of fusing traditional jazz with hip-hop. Using significantly less of a mainstream medium, Chicago saxophonist David Boykin will explore both the historical and stylistic similarities between the two genres when he hosts “And We Don’t Stop” Friday night at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St.

“(Hip-hop fans) wouldn’t think to go to a jazz concert,” Boykin said. “They don’t see the commonalities between the two. The goal is to bring a greater appreciation of jazz music to the hip-hop community.”

“And We Don’t Stop,” a free event, will feature both a discussion and performances to illustrate Boykin’s point. It will begin with a panel discussion at 7 p.m. featuring music critic Peter Margasak, rapper Capital D and jazz vocalist Maggie Brown. According to Boykin, the talk will begin as a discussion about topics such as the correlation between break dancing and tap and swing dancing as a way of demonstrating jazz and hip-hop’s commonalities.

Several performances follow the discussion, further melding the genres. Jazz vocalists Brown and Dee Alexander will perform, backed by the rhythm section of the David Boykin Expanse. This performance will be contrasted by the rapping of Thaione Davis and Cosmogalactus, accompanied by DJ 5th Element and break dancers. Boykin’s group will conclude the performance section, demonstrating their synthesis of elements of hip-hop and jazz.

Boykin previously attempted to work with various DJs and MCs, but found he was unsatisfied with the musical results. He then experimented with rapping himself while his band played. Now Boykin often writes out his lyrics beforehand and raps in what would normally be his turn to solo on the saxophone.

Nicole Mitchell, flutist in Boykin’s group and Boykin’s wife, wasn’t surprised by her husband’s interest in adding elements of rap to his music.

“David has always had poetry and text with his work,” Mitchell said. “It was a natural progression.”

After incorporating hip-hop into his own music, Boykin began to think about other possible connections, which led to the idea for “And We Don’t Stop.” He also drew inspiration from his own development.

“Within the past few years, I’ve come to a certain level of confidence and maturity where I think more and more about affecting other people,” Boykin said. “Being an artist in Chicago, you’re constantly trying to think of different things you can do as an artist to express yourself.”

Boykin’s pursuit of innovation, which has led him to include hip-hop in his music and to explore its relationship with jazz, may be just getting started.

“This is just kind of an introduction to a greater project, a miniature of what he’s trying to do, trying to take all these elements of hip-hop and jazz and put them together,” Mitchell said.

Despite being an introduction, “And We Don’t Stop” took a great deal of time to create. Boykin worked for several months to put the event together, whose title is a common hip-hop refrain that Boykin said refers to a “continuum of black creativity.”

Such a continuum has produced both genres showcased in “And We Don’t Stop.” Yet despite their roots, jazz and hip-hop have since branched out.

“Jazz music was created in the black community, but it welcomed musicians from all over,” Boykin said. “The same thing happened in hip-hop.”

Boykin cited hip-hop’s rhythmic foundation as having come out of jazz. According to improvisational tap dancer Bril Barrett, who will both perform and speak about his craft at “And We Don’t Stop,” the connection also extends to improvisation.

“A tap solo, a jazz solo and an MC spitting rhymes off the top of his head are all the same concept,” said Barrett, who is an adjunct faculty member of the School of Communication.

Yet, according to Boykin, these comparisons don’t extend to most attempts to fuse jazz and hip-hop.

“When they blend the two, they take away the harmonic and rhythmic complexities of jazz,” Boykin said. “It’s like the musicians are playing a loop.”

Mitchell agreed with Boykin’s view, pointing out the difference between his and others’ attempts at fusion.

“People are always trying to make this connection,” Mitchell said. “The way he does it is a more organic way than some others. Rhythmically having the jazz foundation and then bringing the MC into that … is just a more organic environment.”

According to Mitchell, this style of fusion will present challenges to those from the hip-hop school.

“MCs connect themselves in the lineage of jazz music and refer to themselves as being the next step after bebop,” Mitchell said. “This will be kind of a test. I think it will be more challenging for (those in) hip-hop to improvise in a jazz setting than it is vice versa.”

Despite the challenge, Boykin said he sees a future for the mix of jazz and hip-hop as becoming its own genre along the lines of his own work.

“I think there’s something new that’s gonna come and supercede all of this,” Boykin said. “It may not be something so obvious and direct (and) will involve improvisational elements of both.”4

Weinberg junior Sam Weiner is the PLAY music editor. He can be reached at [email protected].