I can’t stand when  rappers let the beat ride out for anything over 30-40 seconds.  You’re a rapper, rap over it or get on with the next song.  But when real musicians do it, everyone is better for it.  War is one of those groups and “The World Is A Ghetto” is a great example of this. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week was a weird week for me.

First of all, I had no desire to listen to any rap music.  I had to clear my head (||) so to speak.  Gotty™ always spoke about it, but I just figured it was one of his OMG rants.  Yet, I spent the week listening to Jazz.  I came across Quincy Jones’ cover of the classic song “Along Came Betty” while waiting for the airport McDonald’s® to tell me they didn’t have milkshakes for the 59th consecutive day.  To my surprise, they finally hired someone who had higher than (or wasn’t working towards) a high school diploma and figured out that some part was in backwards.  Milkshake in tow; I pulled into a parking space, turned up the volume, turned off the work phone and sat quietly listening, enjoying the moment and the music.

With Hubert Laws leading the way on flute, The Dude updates and loosens up  the Big Band era sound that gave him his first shot in the game.  And to tell you the truth, this was the closest I came to hearing words on a track all week.

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Download — Quincy Jones – “Along Came Betty”

KRS might scold me for my choice of words, but I really do love everything Brazilian. I spent four days in Sao Paulo and it changed me forever. Admittedly, I’m more on a first date status Read the rest of this entry »

Yeah, Sherm, we been lunchin’ on the “Daily” part of these funks. But it takes a little bit of research & some type of emotional reaction Read the rest of this entry »