If you caught the Stones Throw/2K Sports Bounce Tour at the Black Cat last night, chances are that MC Percee P casually solicited you to purchase either Perseverance, his excellent CD from earlier this year, or a remix version of the disc that isn’t due to hit the street until January. P was on the sidewalk before the show; he milled in the crowd during other rappers’ sets; and he stood by the door at the end of the night. Considering that he’d otherwise be an all-but-forgotten denizen of the ’80s Bronx scene, it makes perfect sense that he’s hustling for every last dollar. You’d be doing it too, if you got the kind of second chance that Stones Throw is giving him. And his set was all about the MC as master craftsman. He held the mic in his left hand, diddling his fingers on it like a trumpet player. And he was always on the beat.

Other highlights: DJ J. Rocc‘s soul experiments throughout the night; the live drums/two-DJs set featuring Karriem Riggins (who used to play with Ray Brown) on skins with Madlib and Rocc; and the DVD mix by Peanut Butter Wolf that closed the show. Wolf even dropped in a little of Blahzay Blahzay‘s “Danger.” A good portion of the crowd stuck around to see Wolf’s entire set, which he ended by showing the entire video for the Wu-Tang Clan‘s “Triumph.”

It was almost like waiting for the recessional hymn to end before leaving church on Sunday.