Today we are checking out some stuff from the jazz shelf, ranging in styles from intense free jazz, avant fusion to some jazz pop, funk and even hip hop! A decent variety, if I do say so myself - which I think I will,since this is my blog thingie.
Hubert Laws
"Afro-Classic"
1970
Hubert Laws is a famous flautist, whos career spans back to the sixties...this guy is still alive! His bio is pretty much a whos who- including Julliard, New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra- though I thought most exciting was that he did the flute on Gil Scott Herron's, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." This album is good, it's got a nice variety of sound to it-what is that, some super blown out electric piano on that first track? Wild.
Breakestra
"Family Rap"
2005
The Breakestra was a great band to see live, I had the pleasure of randomly catching them on a trip to Toronto back in 2002- that was the first time I had heard of them and they really blew me away! They are a full band that does covers of old famous funk and jazz grooves and breakbeat-and then seamlessly mixes through them, almost like a live mixtape. A lot of the grooves you would recognize from being sampled in hip hop songs. I picked up their album, "the live mix pt 2" at that show, and while it's really the only record of theirs I've heard, save a couple of these singles, It made a lasting impression. For the next album, I'm guessing the label said "give us something we can sell," so they hooked them up with rappers here (notably Chali 2na from Jurassic 5) on this single.
Flaherty/Corsano Duo
"Steel Sleet"
2005
Here's another record I picked up from a concert. Paul Flaherty (sax) and Chris Corsano (drums) were pretty well known in their field, but this duo kind of propelled them to super-group status. I saw them at a packed gig at a small, long - running Cleveland Venue, Pats In The Flats. They were great, Corsano does all this wild "extended technique" stuff- playing the drums with scotch tape and bowls, all kinds of whatnot.
Sammy Davis Jr.
"John Shaft"
1972
Here is a cheap bin find of Sammy Davis Jr. from the 70s-worth it alone for the Shaft cover song-Sinatra couldn't pull this one off! There is also a version of "The Candyman" that's pretty good-and a version of "MacArthur Park" thats...probably MacArthur Park-y. I guess these rat pack guys were real cool back in the day-but I'm thinking maybe it's mostly because video games hadn't been invented yet.
Thanks for reading my further adventures through the record pile, I hope you liked my post!
