Grooves
September 2005 By Christopher Porter
Ain't It Funky Now!
For the Funk of It
Mellow Madness
Blue Note Records
These three compilations are subtitled The Original Jam Master, and they take their cuts from Green’s last six records for Blue Note: Carryin’ On (1969), Green Is Beautiful (1970), Alive! (1970), Visions (1971), Shades of Green (1971), The Final Comedown...
September 2005 By Christopher Porter
A Celebration
A Celebration was released in Europe in 2004 to celebrate Abdullah Ibrahim’s 70th birthday, and its 13 songs spotlight the incredible pianist’s multifaceted, 35-year tenure with the Enja label. From solo pieces (“The Perfumed Garden Wet With Rain,” “Ancient...
September 2005 By Christopher Porter
Brown Sugar
Water
I wanted to like this reissue of 1964’s Brown Sugar so much more than I do because organist Freddie Roach’s liner notes are so poetic, so earnest. He describes how he wanted to do “soul show tunes” for the “dancers in my head,” but they must be slow hoofers...
September 2005 By Christopher Porter
New Thing!
Soul Jazz
Soul Jazz has built its rep on crate-digging some of the best in lost and classic reggae, Latin, soul, disco and funk, and putting them out in nice compilations with plenty of photos and informative liner notes. But the label has also delved into the groovier...
October 2004 By John Murph
The New Mixes, Volume 1
Concord Records
The New Mixes Vol. I is an intriguing remix project based on the newly reissued album Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby: The Original Jam Sessions 1969 (both on Concord). The remixes sort of pick up where the Dream Warriors left off in 1990 with their daffy hip...
October 2004 By John Murph
Intuit
Compost Records
Leave it up to the Munich's Compost label (Jazzanova, Truby Trio) to come up with the summer's tightest soundtrack of jazz-laden electronica. The eponymous debut by Intuit is Compost's jazz-savviest disc yet. Make no mistake, the production team of drummer...
October 2004 By John Murph
Aquarius Songs
Compost Records
Joseph Malik's second disc for Compost, Aquarius Songs, is edgy psychedelic soul that touches on personal and socio-political angst. The Nigerian-Scottish singer again collaborates with multi-instrumentalist and producer David Donnelly, who insulates Malik...
October 2004 By John Murph
Re:Jazz Re:Mix
Kriztal
The compilation [re:jazz] (re:mix) (Kriztal) is the result of a cat-and-mouse game initiated by the Ifracom label. Last year, Infracom curated material from its 10-year-deep catalog for [re:jazz], which converted electronica tunes into organic jazz. On...
October 2004 By John Murph
The Porter Project
Kriztal
There are no structural deficiencies in the source material for The Porter Project (Kriztal), on which guitarist, vocalist and producer Billy Paul Williams recontexualizes a batch of Cole Porter tunes into chilled-out ear candy. Williams' ragamuffin take...
October 2004 By John Murph
Stevie
Stones Throw
As with Cole Porter, there's gluttony of Stevie Wonder tributes, especially in the neosoul sector. Madlib's one-man ersatz jazz project Yesterdays New Quintet serves up a baffling tribute with Stevie (Stones Throw). As an idiosyncratic hip-hop producer and...
