Fall ’99 I took a college road trip to Tennessee with my man Brandon, his mom, older sister, and his niece. Like something out of a movie it was definitely a trip to remember w/ moments that you couldn’t script. I didn’t end up going to either Tennessee State or University of Memphis, but they definitely rank as my favorite visit. Here are a few highlights:

* Driving down the highway in Kennesse (had no clue where we were but somewhere vaguely between Kentucky & Tennessee) we look over to see a car just drive off the side of the road and into a cornfield. Cornhusks were flying everywhere as we could barely contain ourselves. Curious as hell we pull over to the side of the road and run down to see what’s going on. Turns out some old man fell asleep at the wheel and he just drove off the road. Seeing him and his wife with the airbags deployed looking dumbfounded and embarrassed as we helped them out the car was classic. Thankfully they weren’t hurt and that moment stays in my mental Rolodex for when I need a quick chuckle.

* Further down the road we got Brandon’s mom to put in GZA’s Beneath The Surface and she was game for about 6 songs before she couldn’t take it anymore. So she pulls out the disc and “Ass & Titties” by Thee 6 Mafia is the first thing we heard coming from the radio. Coming from the Ohio, we’d never heard uncensored songs on the radio before in the middle of the afternoon. Brandon’s mom must have been in shock because two verses went by before she started to look for a gospel channel. In utter disgust she asked us what group that was and we said we didn’t know soley based by the look on her face.

* Tennessee State had dimes galore, like change for a $20 dimes galore. We walked around that campus for two hours and I really can’t tell you word that was said because our heads were snapping back & forth faster than a Sole Collector convention. I wanted to go there instantly and if it wasn’t for a later visit to Hampton I probably would’ve gone there. So anyone looking for a place to go to college – I recommend at least visiting both of those schools even if you don’t go. You won’t be disappointed because the female to male ratio is almost as big as the bailout Congress just passed.

Long intro, but the real reason was to introduce Herbie Mann’s Memphis Underground. As soon as my dad said Memphis while looking this up my mind went back to that visit and I had to share. Released in 1969, Memphis Underground is Mann’s fusion of Jazz with R&B or “groove” as he called it. The title comes from the songs having been recorded in Memphis not because the music has a “Memphis” style. Playing alongside the likes of Roy Ayers, Larry Coryell, & Sonny Sharrock – Mann’s weapon of choice was the flute and is one of the first to jazz musicians to specialize in the flute.

Herbie Mann – Memphis Underground