Friday, February 25, 2005

Worth Checking Out ...


DJ Smash Presents Phonography 2 on the Blue Note label. This 14-track DJ mixed compilation features a variety of innovative, percussive and electronica tracks by such artists as Soulive feat. Talib Kwell, Don Byron, Jason Moran, Bobby McFerrin, St. Germain, Charlie Hunter feat. Mos Def, Greg Osby, Bob Belden Project feat. Jimi Tunel, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bob Belden Project feat. Cassandra Wilson & Dianne Reeves, Goran Kajfes, Marc Moulain, Henri Salvador and Wild Magnolias.

The sound of Salsoul, Philly International and MFSB are still alive thanks to composer, arranger and vibe player Vince Montana Jr. He was responsible for developing the classic Philly Sound of the mid-seventies that saw Lou Rawls, The Trammps, The O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Loleatta Holloway and many others find success on the charts. He most recently has worked on projects with Masters At Work and India, among others. His latest album Heavy Vibes is an anthology of his music catalogue and is reminiscent of the Salsoul Orchestra and MFSB sound that he pioneered. The 2-CD set is fresh and energetic and includes various remixes and songs such as Heavy Vibes, It Looks Like Love and What Happened To The Music.

Other CDs worth mentioning...Soul Magic by Uschi Classen (soulful and nu eclectic jazz); The African Divas by Frederic Galliano (fusion of African music with electronic club elements); Squaredancing In A Roundhouse by legendary Chicago house DJ Derrick L. Carter; Pansoul by Motorbass (minimalist grooves of past and present disco); Re: by Reunion (NuJazz, grooving and danceable), Around The House by Herbert & D. Siciliano; and Cerrone featuring Jocelyn Brown , You Are The One / Hooked On You (vocal house and deep jazzy house), with remixes by Jamie Lewis and Dimitri From Paris available from Purple Music. On the smooth jazz side, West Coast Coolin' by Norman Brown, Journey by Fourplay, Diary by Torquato Moriano, Lazy by Regina Belle, Midnight Moon by Craig Chaquico, Soul Shadows by Joe Sample, and Firelfy by Greg Adams.

If you are in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area then you should know that WDNA-FM Public Radio in Miami, Florida presents Nu-Groove New Directions In Music every Saturday from 4-6PM ET on 88.9FM. The program is hosted by Ari and features the best of chill, house, funk, broken-beats, lounge, latin groove, brazil beats, and electronica. You can listen to them on the web at www.dna.org and best of all it's commercial free!

Hot on the heels of the Verve, Blue Note and Warner Brothers remix offerings, Motown Remixed is set to be released on March 29th. The disc will include Marvin Gaye's Lets Get It On (remixed by Paul Simpson and Miles Dalto), the Jackson 5's I Want You Back (Z-Trip), Eddie Kendricks' Keep On Truckin' (DJ Spinna), the Supremes My World Is Empty Without You (Tranzition), and as previously reported, Smokey Robinson's Quiet Storm (Rafe Gomez & David Baron, and featuring Roy Ayers on vibes).

No comments:

Post a Comment