This is a really cool video celebrating Reid Miles’ work for Blue Note records, and his monumental impact on album cover art and graphic design. Seriously, if you flip through the CD bins at your local record store you’ll see how many people his work has influenced. The video was made to promote a series of summer jazz concerts at the Bella Vista Social Pub in Siena, Tuscany.
You can learn more about Miles here and see the side-by-side comparisons of the original cover art with the hi-fi versions.
Like many people, I was introduced to Ethiopian music through Mulatu Astatke, the most commercially successful Ethiopian musician, arranger and composer and whose career seems to be enjoying a second wind through renewed interest in his work. But I must admit, beyond Astatke, I don’t know a whole lot, partly because of the obscurity of the music and the fact that I can never remember anyone’s names. However, this gem by Alemayehu Eshete entitled Kochen Messassate is one I will never forget – a late night jazz vibe with heartfelt vocals. I don’t speak Ethiopian so I have no idea what he’s singing about, but it resonates with unparalleled depth and soul.
Complex Magazine recently featured Kon & Amir’s 50 greatest hip hop samples of all time, a pretty comprehensive run-down that features audio of the original and a track that sampled it, as well as words from the duo. Like many vinyl heads (myself included) the record thing starts with breaks and samples; trying to find records that producers used to make that hip hop track you love so much. And while I’ve definitely grown out of that phase of my collecting habits, there’s still something about hearing classic samples that never gets old.
Lists like these are always tough to compile, and even harder to judge, but I think if you asked a lot of other producers to pick their top 50, they probably wouldn’t be too far off from this one.
I first heard about Hypnotic Brass Ensemble when someone posted a youtube clip of a New York Times feature (see bottom) a few years ago, and it was the first time in a long time that I remember being truly blown away by music. Comprised of 8 members, 7 of them blood brothers of the trumpeter and former member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra Phil Cohran, the group started out as a street ensemble, hypnotizing audiences on the streets and subway stations of Chicago before moving to New York. Picking up influences from their father, and combining that with their own interests in hip hop and soul, HBE’s music is an infectious cocktail of brass and rhythm that reminds me a little of Kashmere Stage Band’s material.
Over the past couple of years their career has really taken off, having recorded with Eryka Badu and Mos Def, as well as releasing a number of 7″ and 12″ singles, and their first official full-length album on the Honest Jon label in 2009. If any story deserves to be told it’s of these guys, and filmmaker Reuben Atlas is making it happen with his documentary Hypnotic, scheduled to be released later this year. Check out the trailer below.
I began filming in the fall of 2006, during my last year of law school. (I snuck in shoots between classes and visits to the library.) Hypnotic’s music is what sparked my initial interest—it also helped me pass the bar exam—but it was their nomadic, Utopian existence and deep commitment to uphold their family’s values that inspired the documentary. About six months into filming, the band’s career started to take off and I was fortunate enough to capture their evolution. The feature-length documentary is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2010.
It took being sick on a Saturday for me to finally get around to putting this mix together, a continuation of D.I.A.’s seasonal mixes. How Long is a collection of winter themed tracks that give you that cold prickly feeling. No sequencing or anything fancy here, just the tracks in their entirety. Enjoy.
Tracklisting:
01. Early Morning by Troyka from Troyka (1970)
02. A Little Girl Lost by David Axelrod from Songs of Experience (1969)
03. Winter Song by Nico from Chelsea Girl (1967)
04. Snow Roses by Jan & Lorraine from Gypsy People (1969)
05. How Long by Circuit Rider from Circuit Rider (1980)
06. Forge Your Own Chains by D.R. Hooker from The Truth (1972)
07. Owl of Winter Fortnite by Collie Ryan from Indian Harvest (1973)
08. Afrikan in Winter by Positive Force with Ade Olatunji from Oracy (1977)
09. Winter Serenade by Terje Rypdal & Jan Garbarek from Bleak House (194)
10. Song For Bobby Smith by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson from Winter in America (1974)
11. Will to Love by Neil Young from American Stars ‘N Bars (1977)
12. Gently, Gently by Serpent Power from The Serpent Power (1967)
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