Rapper King Kapisi with vocalist Erna Ferry will be performing live with jazz trombonist Rodger Fox and his big 18-piece band at the Civic Theatre on October 20.
Fox said they had reimagined 10 King Kapisi tracks, giving them a bit of a jazz slant.
"We’re still keeping the hip-hop vibe, the sort of energy of the music, we’re sort of just taking it to a different level and injecting a big band jazz flavour to it."
Fox said with his band, he had always tried to push the envelope and was not a stranger to mixing genres with collaborations in the past with the likes of Sir Dave Dobbyn and pianist Michael Houston.
"When he put his parts on, it really added an energy to it.
"His rapping style is so strong. When he first came to the first rehearsal to run some of the musical arrangements, it was almost like two other drummers had arrived, so it was quite amazing."
King Kapisi said he had never played with an 18-piece band before and found the experience really interesting.
"All of the nuances of the different instruments, wind instruments, the big brass, I’ve never dealt with that much brass before and it’s all a brand-new experience to me.
"I love being able to travel through Aotearoa and spread good vibes and I hope other people get excited by what we do."
He said he was looking forward to performing in Invercargill as well as taking a workshop with Fox for Southern Institute of Technology students and high school pupils before the show.
