i have a complicated relationship with jazz music...so much so, that when i started writing this...two weeks ago...i had a hard time coming up with a track list that best exemplified what I want to say...and then i stumbled upon my case of mix tapes...and an unmarked tape from 2000...the year i stopped making mix tapes...i can't think of a better playlist to use to talk about jazz and me...
Side A
Moanin' - Charles Mingus...straight up, the man was a musical genius...and his music is the fat center of my wheelhouse...when it comes to music period...nearly everything i listen to somehow leads to, or is rooted in Mingus' legacy...
Step Right Up - Tom Waits...this is just a fun, bluesy tune...before waits went really nuts...
The World is My Ashtray - DeeJay Punk-Roc...here's where it gets tricky...the intersection of hip hop and jazz is choked with thieves and posers...1998's ChickenEye from DeeJay Punk-Roc is not one of them...
See-Line Woman - Nina Simone...one of the finest jazz vocalists there ever was...this track is nothing more than a drum, a flute, Ms. Simone, and some back-up singers...i love it...
Natural Blues - Moby...okay, Moby can be a pompous ass...so what...if you can get past that, you might hear how this song and the last one are both rooted in the same place that jazz came from...
Dieu Reconnaitra Les Siens - DJ Cam...one of the few DJs that can actually play the turntable like a musical instrument...
In Walked Bud - Thelonius Monk...i like bebop...can you tell? i love how on the live track from the mix tape, you can hear Monk win over the inattentive audience who chatter away at first...then hush as this playful composition drapes over them...
Unknown track - Unknown artist...this is where i get into trouble...because i have just enough knowledge to make me dangerous...first impression makes me think this is The Modern jazz Quartet...because it reminds me of The Cylinder...and Milt Jackson's unmistakable vibraphone work...
but it can't be, it's a sextet...trumpet, sax, piano, drums, bass, and vibraphone...the song has a Lee Morgan feel to it...like The Sidewinder...
and i know Morgan and Jackson did some work together, but i just can't find it...or maybe it's Art Blakey...i'm probably way off...any ideas?
The Next Movement - The Roots...Black Thought's cadences...the groove that Questlove is throwing down...it's undeniable...
What? - A Tribe Called Quest...probably the hip hop act most responsible for bringing a jazz sound to hip hop...including Digable Planets...we'll ignore this travesty...
E's Flat Ah's Flat Too - Charles Mingus... it always comes back to Mingus...always...this is a flat out jam...
Side B
The Western Lands (A Dangerous Road Mix) - Material...i came for the Burroughs...I stayed for the funky space jazz...
Echo Four Two - Johnny Gregory and his Orchestra...big band stuff...good luck finding this one...
Keep Movin' - James P Johnson...this is my grandfather...this is where my connection to jazz music begins...i have a lot to be thankful for because of that...loving jazz music is one of the blessings that my grandfather gave me...
Freshwater Girl/Chameleon/We Want the Funk - Los Hombres Calientes...purists hate it when jazz musicians cover pop music...they don't realize that a lot of jazz standards started out as pop music...
Una Cosa Buena - DJ Logic...taking what he learned with Medeski, Martin, & Wood to the next level...
Agua de Beber - Antonio Carlos Jobim...some of that swinging bosa nova style...Sinatra's best work was with Mr Jobim...
Blue Train - John Coltrane...an excellent introduction to a definitive jazz artist...it speaks for itself...
Salsation - David Shire...latin jazz meets disco...i can't help myself, this is just plain fun...
Whatever Happened to Gus (Guru remix)- Medeski, Martin & Wood...Guru's rap is lame, but MMW leads the way here on showing how jazz can move closer to its roots by moving towards hip hop...that's right, i said closer...
Syeeda's Song Flute - Medeski, Martin & Wood...MMW doing Coltrane's classic...
Midnight in a Perfect World - DJ Shadow...still believe jazz has nothing to do with hip hop...think again...
Aguas De Marco (Waters of March) - Elis Regina, Antonio Carlos Jobim...the big finish...quietly...this one goes back to my childhood
