Jazz Excursion…

GENERAL    By Gotty™ on March 24, 2007 at 10:42 am

As previously mentioned, this theme was inspired by Jeff S. @ StraightNoChaserJazz and a dialouge about the relationship between jazz and hip-hop. Whether we recognize it or not, hip-hop exposes us to other musical genres, through the technic of sampling. So with these posts, both here & on SNC, we decided to shine a little light on the subject.

Be sure to check out SNC’s Podcast 79, for more sounds and words on this topic.

When I think of the relationship between hip-hop & jazz, one incident strongly comes to mind. Like my man Chris’ “Electric Relaxation,” my first real encounters with jazz were sparked by Gangstarr as well, in the form of the track “Words I Manifest”. Embodied by a simple but powerful looping piano & sparse horn samples, I recall the track’s video being their first (correct me?) or at least my first introduction to them. It wasn’t just the samples that etched the track in my mind. There were images flashed throughtout the video – pics of Malcolm, the symbol of the Nation Of Gods & Earths, & Guru holdin court @ a podium. Young & impressionable, I was hooked.

Fast forward a few steps & there was an episode of The Cosby Show where Cliff was chasin a particular jazz LP – a performance of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia”. If you haven’t seen the episode, I’ll save you the details. But @ the end, Cliff gets the record & cues it up….and it’s the same tune that Gangstarr sampled.

From then on, I made it a point to pay attention when Cliff mentioned jazz artists or records. And I went on my own excursion, finding “A Night In Tunisia,” listening more closely & reading linear notes to check for sources to samples, listening to a few songs intermittingly. Then going straight up listening to jazz for an understanding & as one of primary choices of music, realizing that hip-hop alone couldn’t fill my plate.

Along the way, I found another form of Black music that was wholy African-American from it’s inception but not immediately embraced by society as a whole. And like hip-hop, jazz sampled & took from previous genres, other Black musical forms & history, reworking those influences into something solely its own. Furthermore, jazz had it’s own form of rebellion as it challenged musical composition in an effort to break new chords & sounds, just like hip-hop was, for years, the only genre in music creating new sounds using both voice & beat.

Jazz has received some love, but in America’s collective conscious, it’s the talented stepchild of American music – loved but ignored, prodigious but misunderstood. & jazz has grown up, from it’s neglected youth, to being a forgotten elder…except in the works & minds of hip-hop producers.

So for every Dizzy, there’s a crew like Da Beatminerz, fingers dusty, keepin his work alive.

For every intricate pianist like Monk, there’s a producer like Premier and Da Beatminerz taking bits & forming beautiful pieces of art.

For every genius like Miles, conflicted individual like Trane or beautiful soul in the shape of Byrd, Ornette Coleman or Roy Ayers, there’s a RZA, a Pete Rock & the like standing strong like a vanguard.

Realistically, who are we fooling? Yes, rap is @ the forefront now, enjoying it’s time in the spotlight. But one day, it too will be relegated back to the corners, parks & dim light clubs….and like jazz, it will still be pushing the envelope of creativity & rebellion. Still singin the songs of the souls of Black folks.

Below is a part of our collaborative work with SNC. What you’ll find is a few selected jazz tracks and some of the hip-hop songs & artists who sampled them. If for nothing more, give them a listen as a form of edutainment. What’s interesting is you have a song like “Nautilus” heard and reinterpreted so many different ways & different sections sampled.

* Denotes that the song is included in the downloads and to which file it’s located in…but download all three parts.

Herbie Hancock – “Cantaloupe Island”

US3 – “Cantaloop”***

Mya Feat. Common – “Real Compared To What”***

Cannonball Adderly – “Walk Tall”

A Tribe Called Quest – “Footprints”***

Dizzy Gillespie – “Matrix”

Ahmad ft Ras Kass & Saafir – “Come Widdit”***

Akinyele – “30 Days”***

Beatnuts – “World Famous”***

LA Funk Mob – “Suspence”

Donald Byrd – “Wind Parade”

Black Eyed Peas ft De la Soul – “Cali to New York”***

Black Moon – “Buck ‘Em Down”***

Jewell – “It’s Not Deep Enough”***

Tupac – “Definition of a Thug Nigga”***

Bob James – “Nautilus”

A Tribe Called Quest – “Clap Your Hands”*

Alkaholiks – “Daaam!”*

All Natural – “Think Again”

Basement Khemist – “Correct Technique”

Camp Lo – “Black Nostaljack”**

Chubb Rock – “Keep it Street”

DJ Food – “Spiral Dub”

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – “Jazzy’s Groove”*

Dream Warriors – “Voyage Through the Multiverse”*

EPMD – “Brothers on My Jock”**

Eric B and Rakim – “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em”

K-Solo – “Everybody Knows Me”*

Keith Murray – “The Rhyme”*

King Sun – “Big Shots”*

Kruder & Dorfmeister – “Original Bedroom Rockers”

Large Professor ft Pete Rock – “The Rap World”**

Leaders of the New School – “Show Me a Hero”**

Lord Shafiyq – “My Mic is on Fire”**

Lyrical Prophecy – “You Can’t Swing This”

Main Source – “Live at the Barbecue”**

Onyx – “Black Vagina Finda”*

Organized Konfusion – “Stray Bullet”**

Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “Take You There”**

Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “What’s Next on the Menu?”*

Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “The Sun Won’t Come Out”**

Poison Clan – “Paper Chase”

Poor Righteous Teachers – “Word is Bond”*

Public Enemy – “Anti-Nigger Machine”*

Puff Daddy ft Busta Rhymes and Notorious BIG – “Victory”*

Queen Mother Rage – “Slippin’ into Darkness”

Red Myers – “Shoplifter”

Run-DMC – “Groove to the Sound”

Run-DMC – “Beats to the Rhyme”

Salt-N-Pepa – “Doper Than Dope”*

Slick Rick – “Children’s Story”***

Soul II Soul – “Jazzie’s Groove”***

Tame One – “Torture Chamber”

The Roots ft Mos Def – “Double Trouble”***

Threat – “Bust One Fa Me”

Tim Dog – “Bronx Nigga”***

Tim Dog – “Low Down Nigga”***

Tim Dog – “I’ll Wax Anybody”***

Ultramagnetic MCs – “Moe Love on the One & Two”

Ultramagnetic MCs – “Ced Gee (Delta Force One)”

Ultramagnetic MCs – “Raise it Up”

Jazz Excursion Strays

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