West Coast 90s hip-hop, deep-groove jazz, acid jazz: For a special, one night only, Alphabet Soup will feature all original members: Dred Scott – keys | Kenny Brooks – saxophone / Jay Lane, drums / Victor Little, bass and original MC’s, CB (Chris Burger) and Michael Blake | with special guests. UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza doesn’t figure prominently into the advent of the Bay Area’s hip-hop scene. But it was the initial proving ground for Alphabet Soup, one of the first groups to build live instrumental performances around rappers. In the first half of the ’90s, the Bay Area nurtured a burgeoning acid jazz scene, a creative cauldron fueled by vinylphiles rediscovering 1960s organ-driven jazz funk. One of its key players, Alphabet Soup, ushered hip-hop into realms where it had never before tread — including the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival. The brainchild of impressario, Gary Jones, Alphabet Soup launched in 1991 with saxophonist Kenny Brooks, pianist Dred Scott, rapper Chris Burger and drummer Jay Lane. The group was at the center of the Bay Area’s roiling ’90s scene, even winning best urban contemporary album at the BAMMIE (Bay Area Music) Awards for their 1995 debut, Layin’ Low In The Cut. Alphabet Soup is the Bay Area’s own underground supergroup who immediately became one of San Francisco’s most popular bands.