Laid Back @ Musique Non Stop

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1. 74 Miles Away
2. Ntale’s Groove
3. Strand & Oli-B present DUB!
4. Audiocentric Deluxe edition
5. Kosmopolite festival
6. The Head Hunters
7. The story of Hein Huysmans
8. Francis Falceto and the Ethiopiques series

74 Miles Away Posted: 18 Feb 2011 12:05 AM PST As the long awaited 74 Miles Away project will be officially released in the coming days (18th of Feb. for digital – 4th of March for CD’s & LP’s), I thought it was time to share with you the liner notes I wrote a couple of weeks ago and that you will find printed on the CD back cover… The reason why I love this album so much is because it fully represents what we’ve been up to at Laid Back for the last 9 years. More than a blog, a FM radio show or an online radio station, Laid Back is first and foremost a network of creative minds that we activate through various projects. “74 Miles Away” is a perfect illustration of this collaborative aspect as this album involves a bunch of key Laid Back players. I should even say a bunch of friends as we’ve known each other for such a long time. First of all, MonkeyRobot producers Louis and Eric were DJs for our radio show during more than 5 years and got my full support every time they released their beats under the Infinitskills moniker. This project is a natural next step in their musical evolution. Since I met them in 2003 (via our common graphic designer Ali), it was the “old vs new” duality that I liked in their music. Being musicians and beatmakers, sampling live instruments or adding organic layers to their beats was their trademark. When Louis released a cover of René Costy’s „Scrabble" (the Chapell libary cut used by Dilla for his classic „F*** The Police") on Jazzy Sport last year with long time friend Pierre Anckaert on the Fender Rhodes, it was clear there would be a follow up to this collaboration. I know I should devote of full paragraph to tell you how talented Pierre is: one of Belgium’s finest jazz pianists and composers. But let me just say that he is my mother’s favorite musician. The blend of musical genres that you’ll find on this album also represents our philosophy. While in 2002 our FM radio show was only devoted to Hip Hop, we switched to a broader format a few months later to incorporate Jazz, Soul, Funk and a variety of styles. "All School Flavor" as we used to say. All School Flavor is what you’ll find on this album… Electric Jazz tracks with a 70′s vibe on one side and their modern counterpart on the other. Don’t ask me under what genre to label those reworked versions. The only thing I know is that it’s a true pleasure for the radio station manager that I am to be able to support artists crafting the exact kind of music I love to play. While this album has been conceived and recorded in our hometown Brussels, we also invited some international guests thanks to the power of today’s technology, to our UK manager Orsii and the hyper active always supportive Lefto for the hookups. Without the internet there would be no Miles Bonny, AHU or Carina Andersson on this album. Without the internet and the people behind it, Laid Back wouldn’t be what it is today. In true Laid Back tradition, music is the main focus. But in order to create an atmosphere we have to associate it to appealing visuals. That’s why it’s always a pleasure to have our art director and graphic designer Ali, photographer Kmeron and filmmakers Maty & Sylvain on board to help us look good when we go out. Last but not least, we needed a record label to support us on this adventure… We’ve been loving and supporting their music for so long, it felt only right to knock on Melting Pot Music‘s door. As soon as we entered Olski’s office in Cologne, I knew that we were on the same page ready to write a new chapter together. The common denominator behind all our projects is always the same: the people, the vibe. We work with our friends and our partners become family members. Big up also to Grazzhoppa for the cuts on “So Amazing”, Christopher (MonkeyRobot’s manager), Lander and of course Daniel & Vincent at Sonar Studios for their great job recording and mastering those tracks. CD / LP : MPM store – HHV – Amazon Digital: iTunes – Amazon – Juno – Bandcamp Cover photo shoot by Kmeron & Maty Studio pictures by Louis van De Leest Cover design by Ali for Digital Park

Ntale’s Groove Posted: 14 Dec 2010 10:24 AM PST The concept behind Ntale's Groove started with one simple question: Where am I from? Over the years I have become obsessed with finding the African roots to my heritage. But like most African Americans, I can only trace my lineage back to my great grandfather. Slavery and Segregation have made make it virtually impossible for me to go back any further. Ntale's Groove serves as my imaginary journey to Africa through music. Ntale's Groove touches on numerous genres throughout the African Diaspora and attempts to show that groove is the glue that links black music throughout the world. This project also attempts to reconcile my own vision of Africa with its much harsher, more complicated reality. I also recorded the “Behind Ntale's Groove Radio Show” to showcase musicians that played on the album. This show features original compositions from some of the Ntale's Groove musicians as well as music that influenced the making of the album. Sincerely, Jason aka ClassicBeatz twitter – facebook – bandcamp Ntale's Groove Album Staff Info Album Artwork: Olivier Biname aka Oli-B Author (Ntale Stories): Bayo Awesu Musicians Phil Rodriguez: Trumpet Dylan Heaney: Saxophone/Horn Arrangements Rick Parker: Trombone Nathan Peck: Bass Christopher Tignor: Violin/String Arrangement Alex Greenbaum: Chello Tim Collins: Vibraphones Greg Diamond: Guitar Manny Lopez: Congas/Percussion Brandi Means: Flute Bilen Gaga: Vocals Charlotte Mdoe: Vocals Tosin Musik: Percussion Ludwig Afonso: Drums All Songs Mixed by Gareth Matthews All Songs Mastered by Pete Maher at Top Floor Music

Strand & Oli-B present DUB! Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:54 AM PDT Yes! I do love this project! Mixing music and art is always the magic recipe for a great collaboration. A couple of months ago after his visit in the FM Brussel studio, Spanish producer Strand told me that he would like to release a 7inch. The kind of project wI love to be involved with especially with a musician as versatile and open minded as Strand. When looking for a designer to team up with, I immediately thought about Oli-B… who immediately accepted. The only constraint I gave them? Keepng the production costs as low as possible… Thank you Miguel and Oli for offering us at Laid Back another chance to demonstrate our mission: support artists and connect like minded creative profiles. It was a pleasure to collaborate with you guys. `

Audiocentric Deluxe edition Posted: 14 Jun 2010 11:04 PM PDT Honestly, It started as an accident… Back in 2008 I was frustrated with the prospects of producing for other artists. At the same time Seon was about a year and a half into learning the guitar. Seon and I both work together, so we constantly talked music. There was always a back and forth between us when it came to our musical tastes. Seon preferred rock, folk, and mid 90′s hip hop.  I was more into soul, afrobeat, southern hip hop and classical music. Looking back it was a pretty eclectic mix of influences from the start. One day I invited Seon over to my apartment to chill before going out drinking. He just so happened to have his guitar with him. After a couple of pre-party drinks I suggested that we go into my home studio and try to record something. 30 minutes in, we came up with the skeleton of a track that would eventually become “Legacy”. After that, I knew that we had something. The birth of Audiocentric… The recording process stuck to that same initial formula. Seon would come to my home studio twice week for recording sessions. During these sessions we would brainstorm ideas on the piano and guitar an record them into Pro-Tools. Afterwords I would take the ideas and produce them into semi flushed out songs. This would involve me sequencing drums and percussion, adding other instruments (bass, piano, synths) and developing the overall song arrangement. Then Seon would come back and record the finishing touches on the guitar and percussion. I would also arrange for other musicians to play on the tracks when needed. I would compare the recording process to piecing together a massive jigsaw puzzle. It was a labor of love. After awhile our varied influences began to show up in the album.  We began to hear all the music that we grew up listening to in the project.  So after 8 months of hard work, various recording sessions, additional musicians, mixing and mastering we finally had… Audiocentric. Enter Laid Back… At the time we didn’t realize that finishing an album is only half the battle.  Getting our music heard turned out to be the real challenge. I came across Laid Back Radio’s website in October of 2009 while I was emailing various blogs for press. I really liked the overall vibe of what they were doing, so I sent Laid Back an email. Within a couple of days Julius responded and suggested that we get in contact with Brooklyn based Photographer Carlito Brigante for his Streets of Philadelphia project. One thing lead to another and eventually the idea for the Audiocentric [Unplugged] Project was born. As we continued to promote the album we knew we wanted to get physical cd’s made. We wanted the physical cd’s to become collectors items that would supplement the digital release. This is why we chose to go with a complete artwork redesign and add a bonus track to Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition]. It just so happened that Carlito knew a very talented graphic designer named Felipe Villarreal who was up to the task. From that point on ,we all worked together tirelessly to make the Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition] cd’s come to life. The end… So here we are, 9 months after the the digital release of the Audiocentric and a year and a half after we first started recording.  Its a very bitter sweet moment. Audiocentric has been a child to both of us. The project has been the source of many highs and lows. Audiocentric has also allowed us to meet, connect  and collaborate with new friends from all around the world. But at the end of the day in order to move on you have to let go. So this is it, the final chapter of our project. We proudly present to you Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition] and we hope you enjoy it! -Jason “Classicbeatz” Minnis Purchase Info: Bandcamp – CD Baby – iTunes Article Photo’s Photographer: Sonya Freeman Model: Bilen Gaga Audiocentric[Deluxe Edition] Photographer : Carlito Brigante Graphic Design: Felipe Villarreal

Kosmopolite festival Posted: 10 May 2010 11:14 AM PDT This is it. after more than six months of preparation, the Kosmopolite Art Tour took off last Friday with a brilliant exhibition by Lafinekip and Parole at Lezarts Urbains. On Saturday artists started painting the walls at Centre Culturel Jacques Franck before attending  the Farm Prod / MACrew /Aerosol bridge Club opening at Brass. On Sunday we launched the two others walls in Forest and it’s just the beginning. Centre Culturel Jacques Franck Pictures by Laetitia Indigo Studios Pictures by Julius Farm Prod / MACrew / Aerosol Bridge Club at Brass Pictures by Kmeron by nathalierokx by Kriebel by Kriebel by Kriebel by buethewarrior by sylpaco by Kmeron by StonieB by guifari by soulicious by Alex (FP) Big up to the Farm Prod family and to everybody involved. More aout KAT festival: flickr – facebook

The Head Hunters Posted: 28 Apr 2010 01:47 PM PDT Head Hunter is an institution here in Brooklyn. It is one of the oldest and most respected barbershop in Bed-Stuy. I heard about it because it is a well known fact in the neighborhood that Notorious B.I.G. used to hang out there. Few weeks ago, Jason "Classic Beatz" Minnis mentionned to me that the shop was one block away from his house and that he goes there two or three times a week. I immediately asked him to hook me up with those guys. One week later, Jason calls me back and says "Mark, the owner of the place, is expecting us this Saturday. That we should go at around 2.30 PM when the place is packed so you have a feel of the place". Bingo. "More than anyplace, the barbershop is the black man’s way station, point of contact and universal home." William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs Jason told me that whether in Bed-Stuy, North Florida or Brixton U.K, the ambiance in a barbershop is indistinguishable. A barbershop holds a key role in African-American culture. It is a community gathering place, a discursive space where you receive words on local doings and the latest rumors of the neighborhood. The barbershop is also a neutral place where men interact regardless of class, education, or occupation. Kids, adults, cops, hustlers, nearly everyone takes part in the casual conversations where the barber plays the very active role of moderator. During the hour I spent there, the discussion touched upon an eclectic range of topics, switching from mentoring and education to culture, food habits in the North vs. the South to politics and of course girls. He also told me to be prepared, because the three barbers (Mark, L and Boo) are very quick and have a sharp sense of humor. He told me that being an outsider, the barbers and the clients would scrutinize me at first. That is the rule in a barbershop, it is all about how one's carries himself, and attitude and behavior dictate how one is being treated. After introducing myself to each an every one in the shop, I asked permission to unfold my gear. Mark took over the business 18 years ago and plays the role of the patriarch. Boo has been working for 14 years with Mark. He's a charismatic and well respected figure in the community. "L" is the last one of the three mousquetaires. "L" is still relatively young at 24 years old, but his 6 years working as a barber at head hunter was the perfect vehicle for developing his razor sharp wit. Head Hunter: 1092 Bedford Avenue, Stuyvesant, NY More about Carlito Brigante: flickr – blog

The story of Hein Huysmans Posted: 23 Mar 2010 07:19 AM PDT One of the Belgian jazz records I cherish the most is the self-titled album by long forgotten vibraphone player Hein Huysmans. Recorded in the middle of the seventies with a quintet and a septet, this jazz funk album is definitely one of the more adventurous Belgian records. That's why I found it weird that hardly any information on the record or the artist is available. Curious as I am, one beautiful day in fall I jumped in my car for a long ride to meet mister Huysmans and to have him tell me his story. As we sit in the cozy rehearsal room of his home in one of the more rural areas of Belgium, close to the Dutch border, Hein Huysmans narrates about how he started playing the harmonica with his uncles at the age of three, about how he started studying the accordion four years later and how he started playing in commercial orchestras really quickly. "I played accordion in an orchestra, and one day they needed a vibraphone player. I liked the instrument, so I bought one and started playing. After a few weeks, I already took it to concerts." Huysmans learned to play his instrument the hard way. "I never took any lessons. I just played and listened a lot. Milt Jackson, Gary Burton… Lionel Hampton too, but that was old. I saw him once, in Antwerp. It was great, but when I saw him on television later on, I noticed that he had studied parts of the solos, groups of notes. I never really liked that." The story of Hein Huysmans is that of a musician who had to choose between the struggles of playing his own, commercially less successful, music, or making a living out of playing music he liked less. "I was semi-professional back then, I played eight, maybe ten, concerts a month. One day, the manager of Marc Dex (One of the most popular singers in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, those days, ed.) asked me to join his orchestra. They had at least 25 shows every month; I could have made a living out of that. But I refused, I didn't want to play that crap." Instead, Huysmans opened his own music instruments store and continued to play in less known groups, focusing more and more on the jazz music he loved so much. A Dutch bass player By 1973, he had succeeded in forming his own jazz quintet. "It was difficult finding good jazz musicians over here," Huysmans recalls. And indeed, if you'd make a map of the history of Belgian jazz, none of the big names are located anywhere near Huysmans's hometown. Although Belgium gave birth to European jazz greats such as Bobby Jaspar, René Thomas, Jacques Pelzer, Francy Boland and Sadi, most of the jazz scene was located in Liège or Brussels. The country's northern part, Flanders, is mostly known for its traditional New Orleans-style groups or big bands. It was in one of those bands, the Yellow City Big Band from the city of Geel, that Huysmans met Jan Van Giel, who was the leader and piano player from said big band, and who'd join him in his quintet, together with drummer Frans Pelgrims (who was actually a classical percussion player) and saxophone player Gust Geenen (a friend from the same village). The most difficult though, was to find a likeminded bass player. Huysmans had to go to The Netherlands to find Toon Segers, a professional musician who'd play electric bass on his album a few years later. Searching for new rhythms How come they ended up playing a really modern jazz record with Latin and funk influences with a bunch of big band guys? Hein Huysmans answers: "We wanted to add something new to it, other rhythms than the standard ones. It was pretty modern for the time, I really wanted it to be like that." On stage, the group played their own compositions, such as 'Night People' and 'Marakesh', both of which are featured on the only album the group ever recorded, standards and own arrangements of other songs. Hein Huysmans shows me an album by Hadley Caliman. "We used to play 'Kicking On The Inside' a lot. I really like that theme." "The quintet actually stayed together for pretty long," says Huysmans, "we had a lot of concerts in the Antwerp area, but also in Brussels." He shows me an old poster of Pol's Jazz Club, a notorious jazz club in Brussels. It dates from December 1973 and announces 'Placebo featuring Marc Moulin' one week and the Hein Huysmans Kwintet the next. Although his album is often described as a Placebo featuring Dave Pike jam, Hein knows Marc Moulin by name, but has never heard of his mythical band Placebo. Since Hein Huysmans had a good feeling about his quintet, somewhere in '75 or '76 – He doesn't remember precisely and the sleeve doesn't mention any date – he decided to take a shot at recording an album. The recording of the album almost came in danger when Huysmans and his buddy and saxophone player Gust Geenen had a biking accident, two days before the recording. "You see those red spots on my face?", Huysmans asks while pointing to his picture on the cover. "Me and Gust were cycling and I rode into his rear wheel. They took me to the hospital and I staid in bed the entire weekend. And on Monday we recorded the album. I had a light concussion." Huysmans asked two saxophone players, Eddy House and Eddy De Vos, regulars in the big band circuit, to join in on three of the tracks. They recorded what, in my opinion, is one of the more adventurous Belgian jazz albums. Whether it are the pulsating funky break beats of 'Night People', 'Marakesh' and 'Thinking Of', the bossa nova tinted theme of 'The New Time' or the cool jazz influences in 'Blues For Paul', the album has something for everyone. Local label A. Decap Sound, a label that put out tons of commercial accordion and organ records, agreed to release it. "I had recorded an album for them with accordion songs (as Heintje Huismans, ed.) and I had a good relationship with the people at the company, so they didn't mind releasing it." Hein Huysmans doesn't have a clue about how many copies were ever sold, but he estimates that one thousand were pressed. "After a while, the fun got out of it. That's when I said: 'I quit.' The group wasn't really motivated anymore, and we lived far away from each other, so after a while we only rehearsed when we had a concert, and that took the fun out of it," Huysmans tells when asked about how and why his group quit. Although he doesn't have his own group anymore and also quit playing with the Yellow City Big Band, Hein Huysmans continues to play the vibraphone and accordion every day.

Francis Falceto and the Ethiopiques series Posted: 26 Feb 2010 03:00 AM PST Like many albums that have sparked my imagination, this one came from a friend. It was about 4 years ago, and was the soundtrack to the film Broken Flowers: a Jim Jarmusch film starring a typically melancholy Bill Murray. The album displayed a diverse range of styles, concentrating heavily on a number of instrumental compositions sourced from Éthiopiques Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974. For many people, (including me) this would be the first exposure to the music of Ethiopia, to the Éthiopiques CD series, and it would represent the beginning of a long-lasting obsession. It also signalled the entrance of Ethiopian jazz artist, Mulatu Astatké into the wider public consciousness. Fast-forward four years, and here I am interviewing the man behind the music: Frenchman, and Buda Musique label owner Francis Falceto; curator of the ambitious and ever-expanding 20-plus volume Éthiopiques series. For someone who could be single-handedly credited for the rebirth of this genre, Francis is a humble man. When he speaks of this music, he speaks as if he's telling somebody about it for the first time. His voice is excited, and he seems bewildered by his own enthusiasm. It was a pleasure to speak to someone equally as captivated by this music as I was. Mulatu Astatké & Francis Falceto My interest has always come from what is both recognisable and at the same time foreign about this music. Its 'groove' is so unmistakeably rooted in the history of American funk and jazz that you can't help but think: haven't I heard this somewhere before? But when the warm brass sections soar through their Arabesque melodies and complex arrangements, its foreign-ness emerges. This is not 'jazz' or 'funk' as you thought you knew it. Even now as I write this, I find myself drawn instantly into a reflective mood. When and where was this made? And why has it taken me so long to find this stuff? I don't think I'm the only one to ask myself these questions. You see, over the past few years, crate-diggers and beat-makers all over the world have begun to earnestly search through the annals of lesser-mined foreign jazz and funk scenes; Madlib's Bollywood ventures are one example, whilst Gaslamp Killer's (and many other Stones Throw producers') forays into Turkish psychedelia are another. It was not until Falceto's compilations began to find their place amongst the record collections of producers in far away places that the true impact of this music was felt. Englishman Nick Page from Dub Collossus credits Falceto and the Ethiopiques series as being the reason behind his latest project "A Town Called Addis", whilst the recent collaboration between Mulatu Astatké and the Heliocentrics would surely never have happened were it not for the series. And you know something's afoot when Nas and Damien Marley drop the first single from their forthcoming album "Distant Relatives" that draws heavily from Astatké's Yègélle Tezeta. In a context like this, where 60-70 year-old Ethiopian musicians are seeing their careers revitalised, world tours materialise, and collaborations with present-day producers emerge, one can only marvel at the legacy of Falceto's collection, and the impact it has had on current music trends. Francis will soon be in New Zealand for the WOMAD festival to accompany another lion of the Ethio-jazz scene – Mahmoud Ahmed. Whilst Ahmed no doubt credits Falceto for the opportunity he now has to tour Australia, it is Falceto who credits Ahmed for his own first taste of Ethio-jazz (Francis has said that his first experience of the genre was when he heard a recording of Mahmoud Ahmed's Ere Mèla Mèla in 1984 at a friend's dinner party). So when my Executive Producer told me that there was some time available to speak to Francis on the phone, I couldn't help but feel more than just a little excited. Alexander Mann interviewing Francis Falceto This interview was first played on Alchemy – SBS Radio under license in Australia. For more information please visit the Alchemy website In depth interview of Francis Falceto: part 1 – part 2 More about the Ethiopiques compilations: official website – wikipedia