This is one of Herbie Hancock‘s most underrated albums, and one of my personal favorites among many of this musical genius total output during his almost 50 year long career as a genre defining artist. It combines many of the different musical styles prevalent at the time with some of his previous endeavors, and somehow he manages to mix it into a coherent whole that is greater than the sum of it’s parts. Bits of jazz, hip-hop, afrobeat & funk are blended together using mostly programmed but very organic sounding beats, masterfully accompanied by a whole host of superstar session players, including many of his former Headhunters band members.
Tag archive: jazz
Herbie Hancock – “Dis Is Da Drum” (1994)
June 24, 2010 - posted in Records, Releases.
Incognito – “Transatlantic RPM”
June 23, 2010 - posted in News.
The new 30th anniversary album from Incognito (“Transatlantic RPM”) will be released worldwide on July 26. Featuring such artists as Chaka Khan, the legendary Leon Ware, Al McKay of Earth Wind & Fire and the former bass player/song writer in Jamiroquai, Stuart Zender, hopefully it will be an amazing release!
Funky Halvor – “Jazz & Rain”
June 20, 2010 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
The north is cold, so cold this summer. Today (June 19 2010) it’s been less than 10 degrees Celsius and rain all day long, an excellent excuse to put together a jazzy mix for thought and comfort. For once I’ve decided to actually make a playlist for the interested listener.
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Badass Motherfunkers: The making of a jazzy funkband
April 26, 2010 - posted in Features.
Badass Motherfunkers held their first and only concert (for now), Friday January 22nd. 2010. Five musicians aged 19 to 36, some meeting for the first time at the initial rehearsal, played songs by George Benson, Nils Landgren and Stevie Wonder (among others) in front of a happy crowd cheering and dancing their ass off (check out the audio and video clips below and listen while reading if possible). They weren’t the best band on Earth, but they produced the unmistakable feeling of funk after only three rehearsals. This is the story of how it went down.
Corduroy Industries – “Return to Motor City”
April 16, 2010 - posted in News, Releases, Tracks.
The legendary acid jazz band formerly known as only Corduroy, has just finished recording a new album of mainly 80′s Motown covers after a 10+ year long break from the music scene. According to Ben Addison, they are currently reviewing release options, and they will be performing live at the Düsseldorf annual Jazz rally on May 21.
Rune mix 06 – “Jazz and Beats”
March 21, 2010 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
This started out as a laid back jazz session that for some reason ended up somewhere completely different, which is a good thing!, all track selections guided by the solid beats (the playlist and mix download link is available by reading the full post):
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Lettuce – “Rage!” (2008)
March 8, 2010 - posted in Records, Releases.
Don’t let the band name fool you, this is straight up old-school funk played by a new generation of young musicians with plenty of tight chops and respect for the masters of the groove; James Brown, Tower Of Power, The Meters, Curtis Mayfield (which is featured on the album in the form of a very nice cover version of “Move On Up”) and many more. While all the members of the group are very competent players, their drummer Adam Deitch deserves special mention, he perfectly nails the funk down on every track.
Nils Landgren Funk Unit – “Funk For Life” (2010)
February 26, 2010 - posted in Albums, Reviews.
If you have read some of the previous reviews or other posts on this site written by me, you might have noticed that a majority of it is focused on relatively new artists and music, and that is no coincidence. I truly love funk, soul and jazz music from the 60′s and onward (even earlier with jazz), but one of the reasons I have for contributing to this site is to help spread the word about all the bands and musicians that keeps the music alive and fresh today by creating original material, and Nils Landgren together with his Funk Unit does just that, and they do it well!
Rune mix 04 – “Space is the Place to Chill”
February 3, 2010 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
Post number 50 and our third mix in a row, but since we are all about bringing you great music, it’s all good! This one was created for relaxation and reflection while still being funky with an electronic twist to change things up a bit (the playlist and mix download link is available by reading the full post):
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Alphonse Mouzon – “By All Means” (1981)
January 18, 2010 - posted in Records, Releases.
With an all-star team of performers including Herbie Hancock (keys), Freddie Hubbard (horns), Lee Ritenour (guitars), Alphonse Mouzon (drums/perc) to name a few, it’s no wonder this album contains some quality jazz/funk tracks, with the 14 minute title song leading the way. Most people have heard it on any number of compilation albums, but with the exception of one out-of-place track called “Space Invadors”, the rest of this record is just as good as “By All Means” and it’s well worth seeking out.
Charlie Hunter – “Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid”
December 30, 2009 - posted in News.
Jazz/funk guitarist Charlie Hunter will release his latest album titled “Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid” on January 12. 2010. Among the contributing musicians you will find Eric Kalb (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings), Eric Biondo (Antibalas), Curtis Fowlkes (Jazz Passengers) and more. A free sample track can be directly downloaded here (5.5MB mp3).
Nils Landgren Funk Unit – “Funk for Life”
December 29, 2009 - posted in News.
“Funk for Life” is the latest album from the Nils Landgren Funk Unit that will be released on January 20. 2010, you can listen to a few sample tracks on their MySpace page. They will also be touring all over Europe this coming spring starting in early April (tour dates), catch them if you can, it’s a live funk experience of high caliber.
Update: A review of the album has now been posted here.
Johannes mix 2 – Eastern Bloc Party Breaks & Grooves
December 11, 2009 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
The title says it all, so please enjoy this eastern bloc party grooves mix courtesy of the finely honed vinyl hunting skills of Mr. Johannes (a visual playlist and the mix download link is available by reading the full post):
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Rickey Vincent – My favorite funk albums of the 2000’s
December 4, 2009 - posted in Features.
Rickey Vincent, the funk guru, author, radio DJ and much more, has been kind enough to let us publish his own personal list of favorite releases from the past ten years and it’s a great read, so dig in and have fun!
Rickey Vincent – “The History Of Funk” radio show
December 3, 2009 - posted in Misc, Releases.
Author of the excellent book “Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One“, Rickey Vincent, has hosted his own radio show dedicated to the funk for a number of years, and you can catch the latest ones through the KPFA.org online archive. You can read more about it and have a look at some of the amazing guests that have visited him in the studio over the years on the show’s homepage.
DJ Afro – Unknown Afroshow tracks
December 2, 2009 - posted in Releases, Tracks.
While listening to some of the earliest DJ Afro shows that are no longer available, I found four tracks that I really like but have not been able to identify because the playlists are long gone (read the full post for audio samples). Please leave a comment if you know any of the artists performing these songs:
DJ Afro – “Afroshow”
December 1, 2009 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
DJ Afro, also known as José Luis Pardo – the guitarist in Los Amigos Invisibles, has his own hourly radio show where he spins some of his favorite tunes from many different genres. On his website there is an excellent archive of his newest shows available for online listening, just follow the link above and check it out because there is a lot of really good stuff in there, although some of his house mixes are not my cup of tea.
Funky Halvor – “Catchin U Fallin”
November 28, 2009 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
Here’s a little something from Funky Halvor to get your party started on a Saturday night (the mix download link and an accompanying flyer designed by the man himself is available by reading the full post):
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Swingin Cheese – “Croon Tunes and Kitscherama” (1997)
November 25, 2009 - posted in Records, Releases.
If you ever need a collection of high quality easy listening tunes, and yes, they do exist, this album from Irma Records is fine choice indeed. It covers the period from 1966 – 1972 and the track selections are really good, avoiding the drab elevator music arrangements in favour of solid performances and danceable grooves, making it perfect lounge fare for your ears and feet. Unfortunately it seems to be out of print, so you’ll have to track it down on your own which is probably not that hard.
Funky Halvor – “Wake Up”
November 24, 2009 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
The weekend is definitely over, so I guess it’s time to wake up! (no playlist is available for this mix):
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Download link: Funky Halvor – Wake Up (137MB mp3).
Gilles Peterson – Incognito 30th anniversary interview
November 15, 2009 - posted in Misc, Releases.
Renown DJ and radio show host Gilles Peterson interviews Incognito founder and frontman Bluey about the 30th anniversary mixed with some of their songs and a selection of tracks from artists that have inspired him and the band:
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Download link: Incognito 30th anniversary interview (58MB mp3).
Pat Metheny – Album commentary tracks
November 14, 2009 - posted in Misc, Releases.
Jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny has recorded and released what might be called a directors commentary for many of his albums, and it’s interesting stuff to listen to even if you are not a big fan of the genre or his music, because he describes the creative process behind many of the tracks and what inspired their creation and so on. You can find the commentaries on his podcast page (some of them require iTunes), or you can download them all directly from this newsfeed.
Jazz Mafia sampler
November 12, 2009 - posted in Releases, Tracks.
Our Jazz Mafia friends from San Francisco have released a free 15 track sampler of their music:
Halvor + Johannes + Rune – “Fresh From Frisco” (4 of 4)
November 6, 2009 - posted in Mixes, Releases.
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Download link: Halvor + Johannes + Rune – Fresh From Frisco – Part 4 of 4 (123MB mp3).
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