On October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match in Kinshasa, Zaire. Regarding the fight, Ali’s loquacious corner-man Drew “Bundini” Brown noted about Ali fighting in Africa that the bout symbolized the icons going “f]rom the root to the fruit, that's where everything started at. This is God's act, and you are part of it. This is no Hollywood set, this is real.”

Washington, DC-based Aaron Abernathy and his backing band Nat Turner’s performance at quaint, underground Nation’s Capital venue Tropicalia was as rooted in music’s historical traditions and as long as four “Rumbles in the Jungle,” plus similarly as “real” in presentation. Just like Ali, at the end of his 90-minute set, the soulful singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/composer who has just released his first, critically-acclaimed album Monologue emerged exhausted, yet victorious in winning over a jam-packed room of R & B fanatics.