Five years had gone by since Jazzanova graced the music scene with their 2002 debut "In Between". The Sonar Kollectiv ring leaders had contributed to the Blue Note remix project in 2004 (remaking Eddie Gale), released a soundtrack "Belle et Fou" in 2007 and broke ties with Compost Records to solidify their own label- Sonar Kollectiv. While the collective had a hand in kick-starting the broken beat movement the musical landscape in 2007 had changed quite a bit. So for Jazzanova to jump on the retro bandwagon could be seen as something of a let down. It could...but in the hands of a production unit as impeccable it's more than just cashing in on retro sounds. It's a re-assembling and re-defining of them.
Another obvious change, aside from the musical direction, is seeing a majority of male vocalist take center stage. There's a Motown sound that permeates with chamber strings, horns and filtered drums. The electronic FX are minimal. If anyone truly has any connections to Motown's past it would be through Detroit's present talent. Yes, Detroit and Berlin share a love Techno but this time around Jazzanova mine three treasured talents from Detroit's underground. Hailing from their respective scenes, Hip Hop's Dwele(Slum Village, Recloose), House music's bassist and vocalist Paul Randolf(Carl Craig, Isoul8) and the inimitable and legendary Motown writer- Leon Ware(co-writer for Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Maxwell) make appearances. Even more impressive is that this sextet go global for talent. From Detroit to New York for crooner José James, over to the UK for Ben Westbeech and Bembe Segue(Bugz in the Attic, The Politik, 4Hero), to New Zealand for Fat Freddy's Drop vocalist Joe Dukie and finally Brasil for instrumentalists from Azymuth and vocalist Pedro Martins.
One can deduce that having such a roster of international guests shows how much this album is a labor of love and while this album is less for the dance floor and more for your hi-fi, it's no less significant. Flowing from Motown to Folk to the Quiet Storm centerpiece (featuring Dwele backing Leon Ware), it doesn't try to be retro. It moves into Bossanova territory(not an electronic interpretation like 1997's Fedime's Flight but real Bossanova utilizing real musicians). From there they segue into a more relaxing mood laying down a plush carpet of Astral Jazz for Bembe Segue to lay her cosmic vocal down. Global music for global times.
Highlights include the opener "Look What You're Doing To Me" (the only track to have overt FX. "Let Me Show Ya", "I Can See", "Lie", "Little Bird", "Rockin' You Eternally", "What do You Want", "Gafiera", "Morning Scapes" and "Dial A Cliche".
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Jazzanova- "Of All The Things"
Five years had gone by since Jazzanova graced the music scene with their 2002 debut "In Between". The Sonar Kollectiv ring leaders had contributed to the Blue Note remix project in 2004 (remaking Eddie Gale), released a soundtrack "Belle et Fou" in 2007 and broke ties with Compost Records to solidify their own label- Sonar Kollectiv. While the collective had a hand in kick-starting the broken beat movement the musical landscape in 2007 had changed quite a bit. So for Jazzanova to jump on the retro bandwagon could be seen as something of a let down. It could...but in the hands of a production unit as impeccable it's more than just cashing in on retro sounds. It's a re-assembling and re-defining of them.
Another obvious change, aside from the musical direction, is seeing a majority of male vocalist take center stage. There's a Motown sound that permeates with chamber strings, horns and filtered drums. The electronic FX are minimal. If anyone truly has any connections to Motown's past it would be through Detroit's present talent. Yes, Detroit and Berlin share a love Techno but this time around Jazzanova mine three treasured talents from Detroit's underground. Hailing from their respective scenes, Hip Hop's Dwele(Slum Village, Recloose), House music's bassist and vocalist Paul Randolf(Carl Craig, Isoul8) and the inimitable and legendary Motown writer- Leon Ware(co-writer for Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Maxwell) make appearances. Even more impressive is that this sextet go global for talent. From Detroit to New York for crooner José James, over to the UK for Ben Westbeech and Bembe Segue(Bugz in the Attic, The Politik, 4Hero), to New Zealand for Fat Freddy's Drop vocalist Joe Dukie and finally Brasil for instrumentalists from Azymuth and vocalist Pedro Martins.
One can deduce that having such a roster of international guests shows how much this album is a labor of love and while this album is less for the dance floor and more for your hi-fi, it's no less significant. Flowing from Motown to Folk to the Quiet Storm centerpiece (featuring Dwele backing Leon Ware), it doesn't try to be retro. It moves into Bossanova territory(not an electronic interpretation like 1997's Fedime's Flight but real Bossanova utilizing real musicians). From there they segue into a more relaxing mood laying down a plush carpet of Astral Jazz for Bembe Segue to lay her cosmic vocal down. Global music for global times.
Highlights include the opener "Look What You're Doing To Me" (the only track to have overt FX. "Let Me Show Ya", "I Can See", "Lie", "Little Bird", "Rockin' You Eternally", "What do You Want", "Gafiera", "Morning Scapes" and "Dial A Cliche".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment