freedom suite

"echoing the style of guru’s jazzmatazz, jazz vocalist and multi grammy nominee nnenna freelon join hip-hop quartet the beast torelease 'freedom suite', a 10-track collection of creative reflections on jazz and hip-hop hosted by 9th wonder.

drawing from a traditional jazz canon as well as hip-hop “standards” from the recent past, the album brings a live jazz sound to some of the most loved tracks in popular music. the album features six original songs written and produced by the beast and also re-makings of modern classics such as mos def’s “umi says,” johnny mercer & hoagy carmichael’s “skylark,” and lauryn hill’s “doo wop”. the project has guest appearances from branford marsalis, phonte (of the foreign exhchange/little brother), yahzarah and geechi suede (of camp lo).

recognizing the importance of talking about the convergence of jazz and hip-hop and its role in forward-thinking culture, the album also features conversations among some of hip-hop and jazz’s greatest intellectual minds including ?uestlove, herbie hancock, amiri baraka, branford marsalis, angela davis and more."

heritage

"hypnotic brass ensemble are one of a kind. graced with soul, funk, and spirituality these guys have captivated audiences worldwide. their music is a combination of all genres. with the undeniable drive of hip-hop, the freedom of rock and the melodic thread of R&B these guys are nothing short of unique.

all band members are the sons of legendary sun ra trumpeter phil cohran. the group began performing together as children (some as early as 3 years old). in 1999 they formed what is now known as the hypnotic brass ensemble and have performed or collaborated with some of the greatest musical stars of the last two decades. from mos def to maxwell, wu tang clan’s ghostface killah to UK superstar damon alburn, erykah badu to fela kuti’s drummer tony allen. if you don’t know these guys you’re missing out.

during one of their many stays in dublin with choicecuts, hypnotic decided to shack up in a studio located high in the dublin mountains to rehearse for a week and write new material. hypnotic and choicecuts had a bit of down time in between these sessions and with plenty of guinness and jameson in tow chose to rework some of their favourite records from other artists that have influenced them both.

hypnotic know their fans. they also know their fans know real music. the heritage EP released by choicecuts with hypnotic is a nod to that fact, a sprinkling of the hypnotic dust over some of the tunes that influenced the band and their musical direction over the course of their lives."

hypnotic brass ensemble - spottie (free download)

lloyd miller & the heliocentrics

"following their award-winning collaboration with ethio jazz godfather mulatu astatke (sunday times world music album of the year), pioneering UK collective the heliocentrics resurface alongside another fascinating jazz enigma, ethno-musicologist, jazz maestro and multi-instrumentalist, lloyd miller.

learning various instruments and immersing himself in new orleans jazz through his father, a professional clarinet player, lloyd miller first trained himself in the styles of george lewis and jimmy giuffre and cut his first dixieland jazz 78 rpm record in 1950. during the late ‘50s, his father landed a job in iran and miller began to develop a lifelong interest in persian and eastern music forms, learning to play a vast array of traditional ethnic instruments from across asia and the middle east.

he toured Europe heavily, basing himself in switzerland, belgium, sweden, germany (where he played with eddie harris and don ellis) and, most famously, in paris where he worked with oddball bandleader jef gilson, a phenomenon in french jazz during the early ‘60s. miller returned to the middle east during the ‘70s, landing his own TV show on NIRTV in tehran under the name kurosh ali khan. his show became a national fixture and ran for seven years.

miller has since been a vocal ambassador for preserving the traditions of many forms of wastern music. In recent years, his mid-‘60s album ‘oriental jazz’ has become a collector’s favourite and the UK’s jazzman label have issued a compilation, ‘a lifetime in oriental jazz’, covering work from across his career. the renewed interest in his music has spawned this new collaboration with the heliocentrics, a freeform mix of eastern arrangements, jazz and angular psychedelics and represents the heliocentrics’ most accomplished work to date".


lloyd miller & the heliocentrics - nava

wanda vidal

this is a track from one of madlib's projects that takes a distinct step away from traditional hip-hop - yesterday's new quintet. recently i have been on a journey discovering all the madlib-related material out there and with each new turn the music takes, my appreciation greatens. this jazz-based quintet, made up of four fictitious characters, has released a few albums that i highly recommend you check out.



download...

yesterday's new quintet - wanda vidal [mediafire]

birdy nam nam

birdy nam nam consists of four french djs who believe in using the turntable as an actual instrument. they scratch, cut, cross-fade and loop in harmony to create some really unique tracks – often complimented at their shows with live percussion, strings, and keys. their first album which i have posted below is a great little contemporary jazz record. the clever thing about it is that you wouldn't notice it was four turntablists using vinyl as the only sound source unless you read about it. it has a very vintage style of sound, obviously originating from the vinyl samples used, yet a fresh style is present with the modern production techniques. stand-out tracks in this album include the more traditional lounge-jazz effort 'kind of laid back', the heavily scratched yet infectious 'jazz it at home', and the more epic 'abbesses'. some of their vinyl compositions are breathtaking when you consider how they are assembled; with clear influences ranging from 1990’s electronic experts to 1980’s rap producers.


1. ready for war, ready for what?
2. body, mind, spirit...
3. too much skunk tonight!
4. transition
5. kind of laid back
6. jazz it at home
7. we drummin'
8. new birth
9. escape
10. l'interlude de qualité
11. engineer fear
12. rainstorming
13. il y a un cauchemar dans mon placard (ft. d-styles & mike boo)
14. migration
15. abbesses
16. new steps breaking barriers [bonus track]
17. from here to there [bonus track]

download [megaupload]

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