Wynton Marsalis - Crescent City Christmas Card (1989)

“Because these tunes use such traditional chords and forms, much can be learned by bringing the language of jazz to them. You have to rethink every musical element: melody, timbre, harmony, and rhythm. You have to thin about different rhythms and tempos and which tunes they’re appropriate for. The challenge is whether or not you can maintain the meaning of the song but bring your own personality to it, relentlessly. That’s why I call this album Crescent City Christmas Card: I’m bringing things to this music that originated in New Orleans, especially in terms of the use of the ensemble. Jelly Roll Morton’s conceptions are now basic to what I do in my own band. I use interludes, riffs, breaks, tempo and meter changes, counterpoint, whatever gives the music more richness. On this album, I also wanted to write for more horns because you can deal with more sophistication, colors, and timbres.” - W. Marsalis

Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (1992)

The blend of styles on here and ability to swap between moods and textures this effortlessly was probably a big deal to rap music back in 1991. But today, listening to this album fresh with the knowledge of what's happened since, it feels more odd than anything. Still, what's good here is excellent, and what's bad really isn't bad at all, just bizarre. This is an album that, much like Paul's Boutique, begs to be dissected, but for entirely different reasons. On that album, you're trying to discover exactly how The Dust Brothers made it sound the way it does, and trying to figure out where the hell this or that sample came from. Here, it's just to find out what song does what, so you can take the album apart and put it back together in an order that makes more sense. The programming does hurt this album - as the album progresses, the rap tracks are fazed out and the instrumentals take over, and that can't help but be an anticlimax. But hey, let's not complain too much - while their talents may still be up for debate in some quarters, there aren't many artists in hip-hop who've made as many great albums as the Beasties have, and this is another. As far as blending their two previous efforts together goes, they basically succeeded - this is fun, upbeat, and NOT retarded, with a lot for both B-boys and bedroom music lovers to enjoy.

www.sputnikmusic.com

Terry Callier - Speak Your Peace (2002)

On Speak Your Peace, Callier has found the perfect working mates in Jean-Paul Maunick and Marc Mac (from 4Hero), two men who understand that his work is more about nuance than statement, sense impression than solid image, poetry than prose. Callier's glorious voice and wonderfully fluid acoustic guitar are front and center in the mixes of both men.[...]
As for Callier's compositions, they're stronger than ever. Quoting his words in the context of a review is to belittle their achievement in that they are inextricably wedded to his musical frameworks. (Let's just say that if all pop music were as profound, we would all be activists working for peace and harmony.) The upshot is that this is easily the most seamlessly beautiful and wonderfully consistent recording he's made since his return. There are 14 tracks of ethereal, moving soul, groove, and poignancy that would (or at least should) make Bob Dylan and Smokey Robinson cry. Speak Your Peace rates with Callier's Cadet work in its vision, articulation, and execution. Indeed, on this recording one can hear, in the grain of his voice, a plea for wholeness that could only come from profound heartbreak.

by Thom Jurek - AMG

"Monuments of Mars" - "Brother to Brother" feat. Paul Weller - Official TERRY CALLIER site - Terry on MySpace -

Talkin Loud Classics: Urban Species - Listen (1994)

Urban Species released their ground breaking classic album Listen to an eagerly awaiting public in May 1994. Described by Melody Maker as “Possibly the finest début of 1994” and “The best album Talkin Loud have ever put out” by Sky Mag, the album received universal acclaim and was an immediate success. Commercial chart success came with the hit singles Spiritual Love and Brother, firmly confirming their arrival and unprecedented exposure of a UK rap act.

The band was also finding success across Europe, most notably in France, where they even managed to eclipse their UK achievements. In the United States they developed up a following among New York’s underground scene, receiving considerable airplay. The album was released on London Records after a breathtaking performance at the New Music Seminar in New York, with a showcase that blew away both media and public alike. Over the next 18 months they would take their unique blend of Hip-Hop to places as far afield as the Far East and Africa, making many friends along the way.

[BBC Music]

'Spiritual Love' - 'Brother' - 'Listen' with MC SOLAAR -

Talkin Loud Classics: The Plot Thickens (1994)

Galliano was a London based acid jazz group, which started up in 1988. The group was the first signing to Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label. The original members were Rob Gallagher (vocals), Constantine Weir (vocals), and Crispin Robinson (percussion). Other important members include Valerie Etienne, who participated in the recording of all their CDs, along with other musicians such as Mick Talbot on keyboards, Crispin Taylor on drums and Ernie McKone on bass guitar.

Galliano achieved the peak of its success in 1994 with The Plot Thickens, a major work that fuses the extreme harmonies and rhythms of jazz with up-to-the-minute urban soul on tracks such as Twyford Down, with its numerous changes of tempo, or Travels the Road and Long Time Gone.

Frontman Rob Gallagher continued to perform (as of 2006) as Earl Zinger. In the late 1990s, Gallagher broke Galliano up, and pursued his latest musical project, 2 Banks of 4.

[wiki]

'Long time gone' - 'Twyford Down' - 'Cold Wind'

Talkin Loud classics: The Young Disciples - Road to Freedom (1993)

One of the most important albums to emerge from the acid jazz scene.

By David O' Donnell - BBC music AZ

Young Disciples' Road To Freedom encompasses many of the sounds that epitomised the emerging acid-jazz scene of the early ninties.

Young Disciples formed in 1990 when American vocalist Carleen Anderson relocated to London and met Marc Nelson and Femi Williams. After signing to Talking Loud records in 1991, the group released the singles Get Yourself Together and Apparently Nothin, the latter of which became a hit in the charts. Off the back of Apparently Nothing's success, their impressive debut record Road To Freedom was released.

Road To Freedom combined muscular funk with jazz and R&B influences, whilst also maintained strong links with British Hip Hop, and as a result Road To Freedom benefits from Masta Ace and Maceo Parker guest appearances.

These wide ranging influences, combined with Carleen Anderson's low, smoky vocals and the clever, unpredictable productions, means that a decade and a half later, Road To Freedom is still deemed to be one of the most important albums to emerge from the acid jazz scene.

"Apparently Nothin' - 'All I Have In Me' -

Yonderboi - Shallow & Profound (2001)

Features an emotional & melodic mixture of Downtempo, Trip-Hop, Lounge ,Easy listening and 60ties Bar-Jazz. With Shallow And Profound Yonderboi presents an album with an exceptional tightness although it was recorded when he was only 19, using simple methods and tools, and he impresses the audience with his mature musical understanding.
Yonderboi's manyfold influences vary from oldschool French Hip-Hop and nineties Trip-Hop to soundtracks of eastern European cartoons and cinema noir of the sixties. Yonderboi´s music transports his charming Eastern European identity with a special Hungarian flair.
Shallow and Profound is not shallow, but it is profound - a sensual, exquisite trip through a trip-folk dreamland. Absolutely stunning!

Yonderboi - Milonga Del Mar

Jhelisa - Galactica Rush (1995)

Leaving her Kentucky home for the musical hotbed of London -- via Los Angeles -- singer Jhelisa Anderson got her start with the Shamen in the early '90s. After cutting the well-received Boss Drum with the Scottish combo, she landed a deal with the Dorado label and recorded this stunning debut. The nine tracks groove nicely along on an urbane mix of club-soul and jazz-funk, and feature a wealth of vocal treats (both lead and backing) from Jhelisa. She also had a hand in writing all the tracks here, and demonstrates her solid grasp of deep grooves and inventive instrumentation throughout the album. Helped out by veterans of the London scene, like producer Lee Hamblin (Duran Duran, Coldcut) and keyboardist Matt Cooper (Us3) -- not to mention New York jazzer Greg Osby on soprano saxophone -- Jhelisa delivers an album sure to please fans of contemporary soul, hip-hop, jazz, and electronica's melodic fringes.

by Stephen Cook - AMG

Jhelisa Official - Jhelisa MediaBlog - Video of 'Friendly Pressure

Smokey Robinson - Time Flies When You're Having Fun (2009)

...and we're closing a frenetic month right here on Twisted Jazz blog with the return of a living legend...Welcome back Smokey!!!

At nearly 70 years old, Smokey Robinson is still one of the world’s greatest writers of popular song. Take any one of this set’s 12, beautifully-crafted vignettes that deal with just about every aspect of love – lost, found, enjoyed, unrequited and so on – telling stories in a way that will mean something to just about anybody. And the music’s as meticulous too, shifting tempos to change the aural scenery, always maintaining exactly the right mood – so many of those on today’s RnB production lines could listen and learn from the man who once bossed Motown, soul music’s original production line.

But given Smokey’s age, it’s unsurprising that the tracks that work best are the two where he has help: You’re the One for Me and You’re Just My Life, featuring Joss Stone and India.Arie respectively. Not that he can’t cut it any more, as half a dozen songs here are classic solo Smokey Robinson. Although his voice matured and mellowed post-Miracles, as he croons through easy-rocking masterpieces like That Place and Whatcha Gonna Do, the years fall away. That said, they’re written well within his slightly reduced range, and then wrap things up in arrangements of enough depth to cut him slack. Noticeably, the couple of tunes that perhaps should have been given to somebody else – Don’t Know Why and the title track – are those with the most modern, minimalist backing as they leave him most exposed. That’s the one drawback with writing of this calibre: it leaves little room for faltering.

The real joy of Time Flies… though is the hidden track, a supremely sultry and grown up reading of the Jackson Five’s first hit, I Want You Back. Arranged as kind of lounge jazz (in a good way!) with plenty of space and featuring a trumpet and a piano, it’s a not so much a cover version as a reinvention, giving the lyric a whole new sense of purpose. It’s great that after 50 years in the business Smokey can deliver exactly what you’d expect, but still have the capacity to surprise.

by Lloyd Bradley (BBC-Music)

Official Site - Smokey @ AMG - Smokey & Joss Stone & Jay Leno Show -

Mark Isham - Romeo is Bleeding OST (1993)

Mark Isham's score for this thriller features low-key traditional jazz (which gets more intense and electronic as it goes along) led by his trumpet and flugelhorn, mostly muted. Echoes of Miles Davis are everywhere, and the album works as a mood piece separate from the film. Abbey Lincoln and A.J. Croce each contribute one vocal track.

by William Ruhlman (AMG)

Mark Isham official site - On SoundtrackNet - MySpace page - Amazon -

Sade - Killer Blow

Red Snapper - Prince Blimey (1996)

At a time when Warp Records was known as "the premiere electronica label," along comes another album from this mostly acoustic quartet to drop some jaws with good old-fashioned musicianship. Richly accomplished for a sophomore full-length, Prince Blimey finds Red Snapper expanding rather than floundering for ideas. In a time where acid jazz was busy developing by artificial (sampled) means, Red Snapper's musical prowess became a force to be reckoned with, and many of the tracks here place heavy emphasis on the group's secret weapon: the rhythm section. On a drawing pad, many of these songs would look like pyramids, with the base (bass) end getting most of the emphasis and the top corner crammed with little harmonic afterthoughts. The double bass is essential to the success of these tracks, featuring Ali Friend growling, slinking, and sliding on the frets as confidently as Zeus with a thunderbolt in his hands. Similarly, Richard Thair keeps his drums in time with Friend -- hopscotching, marching, and breakbeating from R&B club to jazz dub to acoustic jungle. Only a handful of bands can successfully reside in the category of "electronica" when so little of their material stems from it, so Warp gets points for pushing the envelope just enough. In terms of songwriting, Red Snapper might not live in a completely furnished house, but the foundation is rock solid.

(Text - Glenn Swan, AMG)

Red Snapper @ MySpace

Red Snapper @ LastFm

Nuspirit Helsinki - S/T (2002)

Very 21st century, not at all cloying but easy on the ear and subtle as you could wish for, this debut might well become nu-jazz' flagship album. A potential archetype for the genre that crosses many genres and a highlight among this summer's releases, it also restores Guidance, a label that has been rather quiet of late, to the forefront of creative "dance-based" music. Even if the lounge bubble bursts or collapses under the weight of its own coziness, NuSpirit Helsinki will undoubtedly survive. Tuomas Kallio, DJ Ender, Kim Rantalla, and the rest of the players have put together a striking testimony to the new interdisciplinarity, but more importantly they have, by any reasonable yardstick, made some marvelous and, I suspect, timeless music.

(Κείμενο Maurice Bottomley @PopMatters)

NuSpirit Official

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