Blue Note, Revisited
by Brian DiGenti
I was driving around L.A. recently, listening to the radio, when I received an Astral Signal. Gene Harris’s “Los Alamitos Latinfunklovesong” came through my speakers for a full seven minutes, and I wished my speakers weren’t shot so I could bump it a little bit. Since I knew the original song was as brief as a breezy spring day, I figured this must be some newfangled cover. When I got home there was the Blue Note 12-inch single in the mail: U.K. broken beat specialists Bugz in the Attic; flipside Kenny Dope doing Bobby Hutcherson. As I put the record on I started to drift back a few years, remembering when I covered Blue Note’s first remix project. I started to scramble through old crates trying to find the first record.
I stumbled on a pair of 12-inchers of the Ummah’s take on that familiar groove “Down Here on the Ground” (originally recorded live by Grant Green and Idris Muhammad on Green’s best record, Alive!). I couldn’t remember where I got the records, and why I had doubles I’ll never know. I kept digging until I found the LP, The New Groove, then put it on. While Diamond D and the Large Professor had their moments on this wax, it was the Roots’s remix of Bobby Hutcherson’s “Montara” that has held up the strongest. Amir Thompson on drums (and production) and the JazzyFatNastees singing created a sublime vibe that still works. Next thing to strike me was the Angel working with Blue Note pianist Jacky Terrasson and Blackalicious rapper Gift of Gab. Terrasson is one of the handful of jazz pianists worth checking out today. He’s since taken a cue from Angel’s drum and bass with his own hyper-drum cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely?” on 2002’s Smile. And check out his interpretation of Ravel’s “Bolero” in which he stretches into a mesmerizing Fender Rhodes jam over staccato breakbeats and flute (Into the Blue, Blue Note).
I revisited these tracks in the days that I awaited the new album, checking the mail each day. Then finally I received a few bulky boxes to my office doorstep. FRAGILE PHONOGRAPH RECORDS, they read in red ink on the cardboard sides. I grabbed the nearest knife, as I have several lying around for just this purpose, and started delicately cutting, still curious of their contents. To my surprise, I found Bugz and Dope (in the Attic and Kenny, of course).
I didn’t need to read all the press sheets to realize that Blue Note Revisited was a global effort. Any old school Mo’ Wax head would recognize France representing with La Funk Mob. Compatriot DJ Cam also steps up to bat with the most straight-forward hip-hop cut on the comp, and the only one to borrow the talents of a Blue Note recording artist. Fellow Frenchman Erik Truffaz (see his progressive Blue Note release The Walk of the Giant Turtle) plays wah-wah trumpet over Cam’s reworking of Donald Byrd’s “The Emperor” for a vibe reminiscent of DJ Krush’s “Edge of Blue.”
But the U.S. also shines here, with Kenny Dope’s infectious retake of Bobby Hutcherson’s “La Malanga”; and DJ Spinna proves why he’s where he is on the scene with his morph of Byrd’s “Lansanna’s Priestess.” And a Blue Note comp wouldn’t be complete without a Madlib contribution. But this time, he didn’t replay a track but went back to basics and just chopped up Bobbie Humphrey’s unreleased breakbeat monster “Young Warrior” (originally recorded for Satin Doll). Madlib pal J Dilla got to jump aboard the Blue Note Express this time with his clever spin on Jack McDuff’s “Oblighetto” (yes, that is the organ sample from Tribe’s “Scenario”).
Let’s not forget the rest of the world, as Japan’s Kyoto Jazz Massive do what they’re known for, and Germany’s Jazzanova get down as always. And while all U.K. troupes get busy — 4Hero’s “Won’t You Open Up Your Senses” (Horace Silver) hits it dead-on with an electric piano groove and jazz vocals from Vanessa Freeman, and Bugz in the Attic kills it with their take of “Los Alamitos Latinfunklovesong” — it’s really Matthew Herbert who steals the show. He takes Michael Petrucciani’s solo piano from 1993’s “Caravan” and triggers different pieces and parts to create new melody, rhythm, and even percussion.
