29 October, 2011

Playlist for AJH November






It is a rainy day here in Valencia. Perfect for staying at home, just relaxing listening to music and creating a new playlist.

Frequently, I use to collaborate in making a monthly Spotify playlist for Acid Jazz Hispano, a Spanish site where you can find a lot of information about Acid Jazz and other Jazz genres.

For this month of November I have included great tracks and I hope you will like them. Some of the artists are: Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Marcus Miller, Eumir Deodato, Gil Scott-Heron, Chuck Mangione and Miles Davis.

Just click on this link that will open you the Playlist for AJH November in Spotify.

And if you want to listen to the whole playlist made up by more contributions of other users: Acid Jazz Hispano 2011-11


Enjoy your weekend!


27 October, 2011

UNITED FUTURE ORGANIZATION- LOUD MINORITY





United Future Organization (known also as UFO) is a group made up by two Japanese DJs Tadashi Yabe and Toshio Matsuura, and Raphael Sebbag (a French expatriate). They are one of the exponents of the Japanese Acid jazz movement and are also known for disk jockeying in many European and American clubs. As a band, they have worked with various labels such as Verve Records and Talkin’ Loud.

This song in concrete, "Loud minority" was part of the single that made them emerge from the land of the rising sun to jump to the old continent scene ("Loud Minority/Moon Dance", 1992). The tune is about how most Acid Jazz DJs and bands feel like: as a "loud minority". A music genre that has not got that massive commercial acceptation that others have. But the core of the message is a claim against jazz purists that think that modern jazz movements (like Avant-Garde Jazz, Jazz Fusion or even Free Jazz) are not jazz at all.

So now we are not only talking about DJs and Acid Jazz bands, but how jazz musicians of these styles/sub-genres feel discriminated by some circles of this world. And let me tell you that this kind of purist and classical idea it is ridiculous. It is ridiculous for the only reason that Jazz is a movement that has been reinventing and evolving since its birth (from Swing to Bebop, from Bebop to Cool Jazz, and so on), searching for new forms, new ways, new rhythms…

25 October, 2011

NUYORICAN SOUL- NUYORICAN SOUL (released in 1993)





Nuyorican Soul is a project developed by Little Louie Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez (Masters At Work). As a group Nuyorican Soul has only published this album, published by the acid-jazz living legend Gilles Peterson imprint: Talkin' Loud. It is composed by songs that different well-known and fine artists have specially created for this occasion or have covered (such as vocalists Jocelyn Brown and India, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, guitarist George Benson, flutist Dave Valentin, trombonist Eddie Palmieri, percussionist Tito Puente and more).

The pieces that form this avant-garde compilation vary across different music genres: soul, jazz, latin and salsa (even in the album art we can appreciate a cuban cigar-box, designed to represent Vega and Gonzalez caribbean roots). Of course, MAW have remixed and treated all of them with its typical jazz-house touch with the intention of making a group of compositions that mix New York streets rhythms. It's another attempt to fusion jazz with other genres, as in the case of Guru's Jazzmatazz projects (but in this case hip-hop was the genre to fusion with jazz).

"I Am the Black Gold of the Sun" (Rottary Connection cover) is sung by Jocelyn Brown, who proves with this tune that has one of the most powerful soul voices in this time. The song is followed by a prolongation "It’s alright, I feel it!" that has a faster and slightly different rhythm. Another excellent cover included is Bob James' Nautilus (named as MAWtilus), where MAW demonstrates that can do a good remix of a song and still respect the original one.

The soul continues with the classic of the Salsoul Orchestra "Runaway", covered by an impressive India that makes us notice until which point this MAW project is oriented in bringing past melodies into the present time.

To end up this masterpiece we have one of my favorite Mr. Benson's song, "You can do it baby". George starts this almost-nine-minute tune with a warm and soft guitar pluck, followed by a futuristic synthesizer that mixes in the rhythm before Benson starts singing and vocalizing the notes he plays (as he usually does).




Spotify link: Nuyorican Soul – Nuyorican Soul