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Posted: 06 Nov 2013 11:39 AM PST
Earlier this year, drummer, composer and conceptualist Jaimeo Brown transformed pain and deliverance into art on his debut album, Transcendence (April 9, Motéma Music). The project fused Gee's Bend Quilters southern spirituals with North Indian music and various electronic elements, generally uncommon for an acoustic modern jazz record.
Now, Brown takes his cross-genre project a step further with support from Grammy® winning Transcendence guitarist and producer Chris Sholar, techno producer Carl Craig and hip-hop producer Q-Tip (who refer to the track as "fantastic" and "dope," respectively), on a radical recasting of "Mean World." This track combines 200 years of black music from spirituals, blues, rock, jazz, house, and hip-hop sprinkled with North Indian influences in the first time these platinum selling black producers have ever been heard together on the same track. The remix also takes advantage of the artists featured in the original track: saxophonist JD Allen and vocals from the Gee's Bend Quilters as well as Falu.
"I'm so blessed to be involved in this work of art that transcends style and genre," reflects Brown. "Everyone contributed something truly personal and unique that was woven together into a brilliant tapestry of sound." The drummer has always sought new pathways for musical expression through a deep and broad lineage of musical and cultural traditions, and this remix is a very effective extension of Brown's vision.
Sholar, who recently won a Grammy® with Kanye West, comments, "It is always a pleasure to work with such legends as Q-Tip and Carl Craig... This track shows that good music is universal and transcends all genres. We had a ball remixing this track!" The guitarist and producer, whose credits include Beyonce, Frank Ocean, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Mariah Carey, among others, co-produced the remix as well as the original album. His expertise, along with Brown's concept behind Transcendence, and the transcendental additions provided by Carl Craig and Q-Tip provided the perfect storm of creativity for developing this unusual and powerful offering for clubs and DJs on the international scene.
 
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Posted: 06 Nov 2013 09:16 AM PST
MUDDY WATERS - CAN'T GET NO GRINDIN'
Muddy Waters can't get no grinding – but that's hardly a problem, given the strength of this sweet early 70s set! The album marks Muddy's return to more basic Chicago blues after his funky electric period on Chess – but the set's still got some of the trippier touches of a few years before – laid out in a much more spare, basic way! The guitar has a weird quality at times – possibly from the way the electric piano comes across at points – almost a bit like Sun Ra's rocksichord, with all the freaky fuzz that might imply! The harmonica almost feels electric too – and all three instruments come together with a nicely offbeat quality that's really head and shoulders above the usual from the Chicago scene. Titles include "Funky Butt", "After Hours", "Garbage Man", "Love Weapon", "Muddy Waters' Shuffle", and "Mother's Bad Luck Child". ~ Dusty Groove
JOE MCPHEE - NATION TIME
A tremendous look at the early years of the legendary Joe McPhee – a set that's based around his classic Nation Time album, and which features other live material from the same time – including a Hat Hut album, and two CDs' worth of previously unissued work! The core album is legendary – a gritty set that features a mighty funky drummer, and some of the most soulful work that Joe ever recorded. Joe plays tenor and trumpet in sweet lineup that features bubbling organ, vamping rhythms, and some sweet modal elements mixed together in percussion, guitar, and Fender Rhodes. Titles include the hard wailing "Nation Time" – plus "Shakey Jake", an excellent 13 minute funk number – and the moodier "Scorpio's Dance". Next is the searing Black Magic Man album – an early release on the Hat Hut label, but recorded during the same December 1970 performance as Nation Time – almost showing the bolder, freer sound of the group – but still coming across with some surprising soulful elements too. The original album is expanded by the addition of the unreleased "Song For Lauren" alternate takes – and the core record includes "Black Magic Man", "Hymn Of The Dragon Kings", and "Song For Lauren". The next two CDs feature material recorded in 1969 and 1970 – at Vassar and in Poughkeepsie – with Joe and group working through some similar spiritual and soul jazz territory as on the Vassar CD issue from the same label. The music is heavy on elements you'd hear from the Nation Time album – Hammond, guitar, and even some electric bass and vibes – used in styles that run from soul jazz, to modal, to more experimental – all on very long tracks that have McPhee really stretching out on tenor and trumpet! Titles include "Cold Sweat", "Breakaway Theme", "Untitled", "Nation Time", "Sunshower", "Spring Street", and "Contemplation". All 4CDs come in very cool LP sleeves, in a slipcover box, aiwth a 60 page booklet of notes, photos, and information on the music! ~ Dusty Groove
MATS ALEKLINT QUARTET - MATS ALEKLINT QUARTET
A beautifully bold session from trombonist Mats Aleklint – a player we don't know well at all, but who really steps out on this set as a leader for Moserobie Records! The sound is a bit looser than most of the recent work on the label – not entirely free, but nicely without any strong structures – so that Mats can stretch out on these amazing lines on both slide and valve trombone, with a sense of voice and vision on the instrument that we haven't heard since Roswell Rudd! The rest of the lineup is great too – a quartet with mighty nice tenor and bass clarinet from Per Texas Johansson, bass from Joe Williamson, and drums and synth from Christopher Cantillo. Aleklint also plays a bit of thumb piano and pump organ too – and titles include "Nattbuss", "Hur Eller Dur", "Braxen", "Algskog", "Landet Runt", and "Snabbt In Snabb Tut". ~ Dusty Groove
 
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Posted: 06 Nov 2013 09:11 AM PST
HARRIS EISENSTADT / NICOLE MITCHELL - GOLDEN STATE
A really beautiful record from drummer Harris Eisenstadt – very different than most of his other work! The set comes out of a residence at Cal Arts by Eisenstadt, at the same time that flautist Nicole Mitchell was there too – and the result is a beautiful blend of Harris' unique sense of timing and spacing, and Mitchell's own sublime work on flute! The record still has lots of the spiritual undertones of Nicole's own records, thanks in part to work from Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon and Mark Dresser on bass – but there's also a different quality, too – a spirit that's very open and free – sometimes a bit dark and contemplative, but always basking in the glow of these newly discovered musical friendships. The rapport between the players comes through right away – and holds strongly over the course of tracks that include "It Is Never Safe To Be", "Sandy", "Unless All The Evidence Is In", "Dogmatic In Any Case", and "Flabbergasted By The Unconventional". ~ Dusty Groove
SHAULI EINAV - GENERATIONS
A really wonderful set from reedman Shauli Einav – a player who's been around for a few years, but who we're only discovering with this album – an artist who really grabs us right away with his soulful work on tenor and soprano sax! As with many albums on the excellent Posi-tone label, there's a depth there that isn't immediately evident from the cover – a timeless approach to the music, but one that's really personal, too – immensely soulful in ways that remind us of some of our favorite indie jazz sets of years back, but with a vibe that's definitely Einav's own. Shauli has a slightly raspy touch to his tenor that really stands out – and he's set up wonderfully here in a quintet with Itai Kriss on flute, Don Friedman on piano, Or Bareket on bass, and Eliot Zigmund on drums – on titles that include a lot of classics by folks like John Coltrane, Harold Land, and Andrew Hill – tunes that include "Compulsion", "Land Of Nod", "Waltz For Zweetie", "Thermo Blues", "As You Like It", "Crescent", and "Renewal". ~ Dusty Groove
IAN O'BRIEN - UNDERSTANDING IS EVERYTHING
A cosmic batch of keyboards from Ian O'Brien – including Fender Rhodes, Arp, moog, and more – served up in a sweet instrumental set that's got plenty of echoes from the best spacey scene of the 70s! Ian covers work by both Herbie Hancock and Lonnie Liston-Smith on the set – which will give you an idea of the righteous quality to the music – tunes that have a really rich, soulful vibe – one that's even different from O'Brien's earlier music, and which reflect a growing sense of social responsibility on this planet! The album's the sort that will have lots of new ears loving Ian's music – including our own – and titles include "Spiraling Prism", "The Explanation", "The Hexagon Of The Heavens", "Love Beams", "My Dreams Of Peace", and "Faded Memories". ~ Dusty Groove
 
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Posted: 06 Nov 2013 09:06 AM PST
JAMES BROWN - IT'S A MOTHER
A definite mother from James Brown – the kind of all-funky album that few of his contemporaries could ever hope to match! If you've ever doubted the sheer raw power of James at the end of the 60s, the first few notes of this one will definitely make you a convert – and the stretched-out grooves as the album rolls on will pull you even further into the fold. Most tracks roll on with that improvised studio jamming style that James was hitting at the time – a pre-JBs mode that's not as long as later years, but which still makes you feel that there probably was plenty more recorded on the dates that didn't make it into the two-part versions of the tracks! And although James is singing on most numbers, the real focus is more on the band – hitting hard, vamping sharp, and grooving massively under shouted calls and directions from Brown. Titles include two great instrumentals – "Popcorn With a Feeling" and "Top of the Stack" – plus "Little Groove Maker Me (parts 1 & 2)", "Mother Popcorn (parts 1 & 2)", "Mashed Potato Popcorn (parts 1 & 2)", "Any Day Now", "You're Still Out Of Sight", and "I'm Shook" – as well as the great mellower number "If I Ruled The World" – redone here as an African-American anthem of pride and power! (Limited edition.) ~ Dusty Groove
ALISON CROCKETT - MOMMY, WHAT'S A DEPRESSION?
Maybe the strongest, boldest album we've ever heard from Alison Crockett so far – a record that has the singer bursting forth with a sense of power that really blows away her previous albums! The album's a great reminder of Crockett's place in the soul underground over the past decade or so – and the record's got an even tighter conception than we might have expected – proud words in the lyrics from Alison, supported by great backings from Teddy Crockett too – with a small group lineup that also includes piano from both Orrin Evans and Marc Cary. And although the original songs are very powerful, the album also features some stunning remakes of other work – by Syreeta, Eden Abez, and even Bessie Smith – but done in ways that completely transform the tunes, and instantly make them Alison's own. Ursula Rucker guests on a few tracks – and titles include "Gentrification", "Depression", "My Man's Gone Now", "Ima Hustla", "Trouble In The Lowlands", "The Old Country", "Come Back As A Flower", and "Sack Full Of Dreams". ~ Dusty Groove
KENNY WESLEY - THE REAL THING
The first full album we've heard from Kenny Wesley – a singer with a heck of a great vocal range, and a strong sense of personality too! The album's got a depth that goes way past the goofy image on the cover – as Wesley brings a jazz vocal sense of range to his singing, but mixes things with a heavier funk approach too – some bassy bits and tight drums that keep the tunes tight and snapping, but never in a way that's poppy or commercial. Instead, the whole thing bristles with freshness – just the right sort of album to announce Kenny as a bold newcomer, with a vibe that's all his own. Titles include "The Real Thing", "Taffy", "Feels Good", "The Window", "Closer", "Woman", "Tangled", "Sophisticated", and "Missin You". ~ Dusty Groove
 
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