Courtesy of Jon Freer (mosoul.co.uk) here are seven reviews of available and soon to be released albums (sorry no cover shots or tracklistings this time):

V/A – Atlantic Jaxx: A Compilation Vol 2 (Atlantic Jaxx)

I believe that the Jaxxsters saved some of their best material for their own Altantic Jaxx imprint. Appealing House and slow movin’ souly stuff can be found on this second label round up, which features Jaxx archive material alongside good stuff from label mates and the occasional duff tune. Basement Jaxx’s own “City People” is a jubilant synthoid stormer, with over-excited key sweeps, an obliterating bass and romantic vocodered vocals. The ‘Deep Dub 1′ of Yen Sung’s “Do You” places thumpin’ carnival beats and a nasty bass behind tentative keys. An orchestralated string arrangement, loveable keys and careful percussion meet on the sublime Jaxx penned “Urban Haze”. Worth it for the Jaxx oldies alone!

Emmanuel – D’Illusions Of Grandeur (Little League)

Emmanuel’s debut long player is an impressively instrumentated collection of Hip Hop, Neo Soul and Broken Soul cuts. Put together with help from a striking list of collaborators, “D’Illusions Of Grandeur” contains a number of lovely soul-scorched tunes. “Dámelo” feat Belle is a desireful number, with caring guitars and smart percussion. Daniel DeBourg expresses feelings of dismay at falling in love on the reliably percussed “Quicksand”. “Proof” lets Sandra Escoffery philosophise over revealing guitar work and hushed keys. Nu Brit Hop Soul!

Lushlife – Order Of Operations (Scenario)

This release from Lushlife is well produced and musically bright, but unfortunately lacks charisma in places. Standouts are provided in the form of recent single “No Foundation”, where jerked keys and law laying down beats rule, and the beautiful knotted sax interlude entitled “Nocturne Pour Les Coins D’elle Yeux”. There’s some nifty samplin’, well spoken rappin’ and cool souly bits, but there’s a nagging feeling that “Order Of Operations” could have perhaps been a little more exciting in places.

V/A – Spiritland: The Funk & Soul of Blue Eyed Rock (Harmless)

On this compilation, knowledgeable scribe and spinner Bill Brewster charts an age where rockin’ artists looked to Black America for inspiration and produced some pretty tasty music. The soul influences can be felt on these bare sounding, guitarry compositions. Gino Vannelli’s “People Gotta Move On” commands from a refuge where weighty keys, strict drums and bass that enjoys life dwell. Romantic brass, gorgeous flutes and committed guitars meet on the beaming “Happy Cause I’m Coming Home” by Chicago. Sax-acrobatics take pride of place on “Spooky” by Classics IV. Engaging stuff.

Muallem – Frankie Spits (Compost)

David Muallem makes powerfully executed electronic hop. This album ranges from nu-electroid madness to housier fair and even includes the occasional fracturedly beaten cut. “Some Loving” sees Martine Girault provide lustful vocalizations over echoey guitar hits and an imposing bass. The cosmical “Shanti Dance” sees brightly coloured synths and driving guitars get down with gorgeous keys and powerful drums. “Cruising” fractures beats under authority stamping guitars and wide-eyed synths. Due to the nature of some of the tracks present, it’s quite likely that this album will be snapped up by fashion chasing muso’s, but there’s something to Muallem’s compositions that suggests his work will endure unlike that of many of those who pander to musical trends and crazes.

Joe Silva – Loudmouth Sirens (Purespace)

Housey in outlook, this interesting album from Winnipeg’s Joe Silva mixes cold techy cuts with bumpy grooved material. There’s there occasional excursion down other musical avenues, but all cuts retain an electronic precision and breath-catching edginess. “Your House” is home to a frowning bass, hopeful strings and positive keys. “Life In Suede” places excited trumpeting and strange keys over pondering guitars and crushed beats. “Like You” is a drunken come-on, with stumbling keys and a pained bass. Worth investigating…

Birdy Nam Nam – Album (KIF/Uncivilized World)

This scratchadelic collection comes from a musical team whose world begins and also ends with Hip Hop and turntable trickery. They may visit various musical lands on their travels, but Birdy Nam Nam are b-boys at heart. Their album is full of clunky beat driven numbers, which are mostly short in length. BNN’s tracks impress except when the group ventures too far towards weird territories. “Body, Mind, Spirit” lets a pipe type instrument sing its heart out over thoughtful keys, clumsy percussion and a snarling bass. Grand strings, vulnerable keys and whispered vox get soaked on “Rainstorming”. “Migration” is an uptempo bruk gem, with watery keys, live bass steps and crazed scratchin’. Bon!

A new documentary film, Billy Taylor: American Hero, which was show at the IAJE Conference in New York, is now available for downloading/viewing on Billy’s website

Produced and directed by Bret Primack, the film includes interviews with Billy, Jon Faddis, Kim Taylor Thompson and Alan Bergman, as well as rare performance footage of Billy with Duke Ellington and Willie “the Lion” Smith on the David Frost Show, and, Billy’s acting debut on the CBS Television Program, See It Now, in 1952, when he portrayed Jelly Roll Morton.

“Billy Taylor is unique,” Primack believes, “not just for his accomplishments in Jazz, as a musician, composer, educator, broadcaster and spokesperson, but for his humanity. That’s what this documentary is really about, an incredibly caring, creative man who has touched the lives of many people through his music, and by meeting them. Billy is the Dalai Lama of Jazz.”

After writing a Jazz Times tribute to Billy Taylor that appeared at the time of his 75th birthday, Primack begun collaborating with Billy Taylor on several projects, including Jazz Central Station, GMN Jazz Plus, and mostly recently, on Taylor’s website. “As fate would have it, I used to listen to Billy on WNEW back in the early 60s, when I was first getting into Jazz. His program was a wonderful introduction to the music, and he was an icon of
cool. Thirty years later we began working together.”

Primack is excited about using the Internet as a way to distribute the documentary and believes that “in the next few years, the web will replace television, offering literally millions of video options. The success of the Video iPod is proving to be the catalyst for a revolution in the way video is produced, marketed and distributed, just like MP3 files have done for music.”

Instead of waiting to get the documentary on cable tv, or in film festivals and theatres, Primack has bypassed the usual distribution channels and jumped immediately to the web, where “anyone, anyplace can download and view the video, any time of day and night.”

It’s just the press release, I was actually too lazy to write something myself. Also visit Bret Primack’s website.

Andile Yenana’s album Who’s Got The Map? is already one of my favourite jazz albums this year. If you want to discover South Africa’s jazz music of today, I guess there couldn’t be a better start. To know more about Andile and his music, just continue reading the jazz-not-jazz interview.

Q: Who’s Got The Map? is your second album as a solo artist. Please tell me in which way it’s different from We Used To Dance and the music you’ve recorded with the Voice project and where do you see your progress as songwriter/pianist?

Andile Yenana: This is my last Quintet recording, as I will be concentrating on trio material for my 3rd release. ‘Who’s Got The Map’ in comparison with ‘We Used To Dance’ is gratifying in the sense that I have written more material than I did with ‘We Used To Dance’ and with Voice projects.

Q: Please tell me how you’ve met the musicians involved on Who’s Got The Map and tell me more about the musical vision you share.

Andile Yenana: Sydney Mnisi has worked with me on my first album and he is a member of Voice. Sydney Mavundla was my collegue at varsity. We work on each others compositions when ever we have time and I am glad that Sydney Mnisi has once again contributed a tune on this album.

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Pedro Giraudo’s album Desconsuelo recorded with his 13-piece band Mr. Vivo recently brought a fresh sound with its unique mix of jazz, improvisation, South American music and Argentine folk songs.
In his jazz-not-jazz interview Pedro talks about his influences, his move to NYC and why he can’t be heard with bass solos on his latest album.

Q: You were born and raised in Argentina and moved to NYC in 1996. Please tell me why you moved to the USA and what do you like about the USA that’s very different from Argentina (and vice versa).

Pedro Giraudo: I moved to NYC mainly to study jazz. As soon as I arrived to the airport I felt a very strong connection to the city, and I still do. I miss Argentina very much though. I love its quality of life, its values, its character, its music and the fact that my family is there. On the other hand NYC is one of the most energized cities I have known. You constantly feel the whole city pushing you to improve, to break your own limits. It’s indescribable. I think I could not have chosen a better place to study and develop as a musician than New York.

Q: Please tell me how the idea of forming Mr. Vivo came about and what do you want to achieve with your fellow musicians.

Pedro Giraudo: I formed the first version of my band when I graduated from Manhattan School of Music in 2000 and suddenly felt eagerness to compose. We have recorded three CDs so far: ‘Destiny of Flowers’ (septet, 2000), ‘Mr Vivo’ (octet, 2002) and the CD being presented now, ‘Desconsuelo’ (13-piece, 2005). Since its conception the band has been expanding, and my guess is that it will continue to do so.
It is pretty difficult to find people who commit to a band in New York; it took me some time to find the right people, but it was worth it. I write all my music, and I mean ALL my music, knowing who is on each chair. I’ll take this opportunity to introduce the band on the CD: Will Vinson, Ramiro Flores, Luke Batson, Carl Maraghi: saxes; Jonathan Powell, Tatum Greenblatt: trumpets; Ryan Keberle, Mike Fahie: trombones; Jess Jurkovic, piano; Jeff Davis, drums; Tony De Vivo, cajón; Sofía Tosello, voice.
My goal is to write and perform the best music my potential allows.

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What at first struck me about Marcus Strickland was his surname. As a German Strickland sounds very German to me and it could easily be the name of a store selling knitware and wool. Strick means knitware and the verb stricken means to knit, das Land is the same as the English noun land. Well, so much for the names…luckily Marcus music doesn’t sound German at all.
Marcus is a soprano and tenor saxophone player in his mid-twenties and Brotherhood his already his second album (his debut album was At Last). Like its predecessor it’s recorded in the quartet setting with Robert Glasper (piano), Brandon Owens (bass) and E.J. Strickland (drums, and Marcus’ twin brother by the way). Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt joins the quartet for two tracks. With all nine tunes being original compositions (eight were written by Marcus and Unsung Hero by E.J. Strickland) we really have a talented no-nonsense jazz band here who are serious about their music. Nevertheless, they know they are playing for their listeners as much as they play for themselves and the love of jazz music as an art form. “I think that my group reaches the audience because, although the music we play presents challenge, we are still able to have fun displaying our personality,” Marcus says. “Correctly playing a complicated form of music isn’t enough to demand attention from a listener. It’s the enthusiasm of taking chances, the expression that perks up the listener’s ear.”
The overall sound of the Markus Strickland Quartet is warm and organic and I especially like the idea of Robert Glasper switching to electric piano on some songs. The result on songs like Splendour is, er, splendid adding some soul into the jazz. In fact, I’m sure fans of the jazz instrumentals of Fertile Ground or the early Roberta Flack will love this song, the introspective Amen or the ballad Excerpts.
Marcus Strickland and his fellow musicians are very versatile and of course they can also impress on more traditional jazz songs like the swinging Saouse, the hard bop Values & Predators or Epiphany. It’s hard to pick a favourite song from Brotherhood. They are all well-composed and maybe even better interpreted leaving me somehow astonished that this is only the second album of Marcus Strickland and his quartet with all being in their early/mid-twenties.
All in all Brotherhood is a real treasure worth hunting for even three years after its original release because it has that timless quality.

Tracklisting of Brotherhood: 1. Brotherhood/ 2. Values & Imperatives/ 3. Splendour/ 4. Amen/ 5. Predator/ 6. Epiphany/ 7. Excerpt/ 8. Saouse/ 9. The Unsung Hero | released 2003 Marcus Strickland

For more infos visit cdbaby.com and marcusstrickland.com.

[If you want to discuss Marcus Strickland’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

Now that’s what one can call an interesting turn. Larry Epstein, whose musicality surely runs in the family with his father and grandfather being bassists too, is Acting Principal Bassist of the San Francisco Symphony and had previously played with the orchestra of Miami, Milwaukee and Strasbourg (France). To be honest I wouldn’t have assumed that a musician earning his daily bread with playing classical music in an orchestra would release such a relaxed and very good straight ahead jazz album. Me and my prejudices!
Larry teamed up with excellent musicians to support him on myTunes: Mathhew Clark (piano), Erik Jekabson (trumpet), Eddie Marshall (drums), John Santos (percussion) [some of you may remember John from his album Mambo Jazz recorded with Bobby Matos - the one with I Don’t Speak Spanish (But I Understand Everything When I’m Dancing) on it], and Harvey Wainapel (saxes).
Larry says about his debut album, “This music is easy to listen to to, but, is NOT ‘easy listening’ music. The presentation is straighforward; the appeal is simple and direct.” And he’s right. It’s music you can listen to without getting irritated by odd solos but it still has enough depth if you take your time and listen closely to his music. All songs are original compostitions and with most songs being mid- or downtempo they are perfect for the Blue Hour, the period between sunset and dark.
The driving Rat Race makes a good herald when you still feel the energy of a sunny and bright day but know that dusk will soon be with you. Then there’s the mellow latin inspired Passeggiata or the slow, wishfully yearning ballad Oh, What Could Have Been which features Larry on electric upright bass. It’s About Time further explores the melancholy theme with its slow groove. Blue Waltz features a bowed bass for a change while A Change Of Mood is a pleasant midtempo song. The introspective From Then Till Now (again with bowed bass) closes this excellent album. If only it would’ve been a longer than the fourtyfive minutes. But then, a Blue Hour isn’t often really an hour except maybe in mid-summer…so like I said perfect for this special time of day (and every other time as well for quality music fans.)

Tracklisting of myTunes!: 1. Rat Race/ 2. Passeggiata/ 3. Oh, What Could Have Been/ 4. It’s About Time/ 5. Blue Waltz/ 6. A Change Of Mood/ 7. From Then Till Now | released 2005 Tonality Records

For more infos visit cdbaby.com and sfsymphony.org.

[If you want to discuss Larry Epstein’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

Yes, I admit it. I’m a sucker for a lush string section and a great singer. And then it really doesn’t matter if he or she sings only cover versions. Plus it’s good to hear Naima Shamborguer on a new self-released record after she impressed me with A Blossom Sings.
“From My Heart To Yours is my dream project. It is a CD of ballads with different tempos,” Naima told me in her jazz-not-jazz interview last year. And what a marvelous dream Naima must have had.
From My Heart To Yours offers twelve heartfelt interpretation of standards and one original composition. Again, Naima succeeds in making the songs her own.
The album starts with a moving rendition of Smile with a string laden instrumentation, a song written by Charlie Chaplin. The instrumental version originally appeared in the soundtrack of Modern Times in 1936. You may remember the final scene of this movie when Charlie and the gamine (his wife Paulette Goddard by the way) walk down the road to a new life. When they get up off the grass strip, he pauses and points to the corners of his mouth, indicating that she should smile. And listening to her singing and Dwight Adams’ muted trumpet it sounds like Naima wants to recapture this moment with her being Chaplin and the trumpet being the gamine.
Other highlights include Naima’s collaboration with George Benson, the bluesy Fuchsia Mood (with music by George, who also plays saxophone on this track, and lyrics by Naima) and a swinging version of If You Could See Me Now (made famous by Sarah Vaughn).
Sure Thing, a Gershwin/Kern song that first appeared in the movie Cover Girl with Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly, gets redone as showstopping ballad with great strings and a fine bass solo by Marion Hayden. I’ll Be Seeing You is a duet with veteran singer Don Revels (of Five Pearls and Society Train fame) and it features a nice bass clarinet solo by Wendell Harrison.
Legrande’s What Are You doing For The Rest Of Your Life and Cole Porter’s In The Still Of The Night have a welcome Latin flavour thanks to Mahindi Masi’s percussion.
And the lesson learned for me with this album is, that I really can’t get warm with Stephen Sondheim’s songs. Don’t ask me why, Naima does a great job on Send In The Clowns, the instrumentation of strings and harp is fine, but I still can’t get into this song.
To sum it up From My Heart To Yours is a great, independently released jazz album by a singer who (hopefully) won’t be Detroit’s best kept secret any longer.

Tracklisting of From My Heart To Yours: 1. Smile/ 2. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life/ 3. Here’s To Life/ 4. Fuchsia Mood/ 5. Send In The Clowns/ 6. Nearness Of You/ 7. When October Goes/ 8. If You Could See Me Now/ 9. Lush Life/ 10. Sure Thing/ 11. I’ll Be Seeing you/ 12. In The Still Of The Night | released 2006 Shambones Music

For more infos visit cdbaby.com and naima.mybesthost.com and read my interview with Naima Shamborguer.

[If you want to discuss Naima Shamborguer’s music, you can leave your comment below and also use the forum]

Good news for all Monica Dillon fans in Germany (like me for example). Monica will perform in Potsdam on March, 17th at the Nikolaisaal (and hopefully in other German cities like Hamburg) to promote her album All I Have Is A Moment, which was released by Just Records Babelsberg (who, by the way should invest a few Euros in a decent webdesigner…where’s the navigation in Firefox, folks? I mean if all fails I would do the job *grin*). For more info visit the website of the Nikolaisaal. Monica will be supported by Monica McIntyre amongst others. Monica McIntyre recently impressed me on Natural Selection’s album Come On Over but she’s also a solo artist and watch jazz-not-jazz for a review of her music and an interview coming soon.

Sorry folks! You haven’t heard from me because after one hard drive (manufactured by Seagate by the way) crashed, another started to make some odd metallic noises the next day (and again Seagate is the manufacture). And I just was annoyed with Seagate, their absurd so called customer support, their website that doesn’t work well in Opera or Firefox (at least the part you have to use to get a RMA number) and the fact that I have to send in the hard drive and pay the shipping even though the warranty is still in effect. To cut a long story short, I rather contacted the retailer where I bought the first hard drive (the second was the OEM drive that came with the computer so I had to contact Fujitsu anyway). Well, both of them will replace the drives and I don’t have to pay any shipping costs. And I will never buy another Seagate drive in my life!
And this disaster was also to blame why there hasn’t been a new show on radio42.com yesterday. But I will now post a few interviews and album reviews. So get a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy!

One of the worst things has happened today and it’s an experience I really could do without. The hard drive that hold the boot sector on my computer decided to call it a day…although the situation now isn’t too worse since I heard it coming (it made some odd noises the last days) and so I made image files of the OS and the programme drives, which luckily work very well. Unfortunately I had to sacrifice a back-up hard drive with music and movies because this stuff always happens when shops are closed and when you don’t have money left. Anyway, the image files are the reason why I’m able to be online so fast again. Nevertheless, I have to copy some back-ups and restore my personal data like pictures, documents, mail boxes, web sites and so on…grrrr…so this will need some time and you maybe won’t hear anything from me for the next two days or so.

In conjunction with radiopellenera jazz-not-jazz presents a weekly show with quality soul, jazz and house music. You can catch the show every Tuesday from 07:00-09:00 (UTC+1) and if you missed it it will be repeated on Friday 12:00-14:00 (UTC+1) and Sunday from 13:00-15:00 (UTC+1) . For conversion to your local time zone have a look at the wikipedia or at radiopellenera’s schedule on live365.com.

This time it’s all about Africa. The songs either have Africa or the name of an African state, town or region (like Sahara) in their title or tell us something about African history like Roy Ayers’ Black Family. Here’s the playlist for the show starting tomorrow, Tuesday 7th:

Incognito: Marrakech (from No Time Like The Future)
Dizzie Gillespie: A Night In Tunisia (from Afro)
McCoy Tyner: Sahara (from Sahara)
Speak In Tones: Mali Overdrive (from Subaro)
Stanley Turrentine: Niger Mambo
Candido: Ghana Spice Pt.I
Ola Onabule: Lagos Boy (from Ambitions For A Deeper Breadth)
Terry Callier: Sierra Leone (from Speak Your Piece)
Abbey Lincoln: Africa (from People In Me)
Alice Coltrane: Blue Nile (from Ptah, The El Daoud)
Maiuko: Mozambique (from Different Wars)
JuJu: Nairobi Chants (from Oneness Of JuJu African Rhythms 1970-1982)
Machito: Kenya (from Kenya)
Poncho Sanchez: Sambia (from Latin Spirits)
Roy Ayers: Black Family (from Drive)
Archie Shepp: New Africa (from The Way Ahead)

Courtesy of Jon Freer (mosoul.co.uk) here are 13 reviews of available and soon to be released 12″ singles (sorry no cover shots or tracklistings this time):

Bajka – I Can No Poet Be (Jazzman)

This slice of spiritually aware Jazz could have been a musical child of the 70s, but is actually a brand new record vocalized by Bajka and produced by the funkateering Das Goldenes Zeitalter group. A furore causing sax vents its anger over sedating keys, an enslaving bass and spiritually inspired vocals on “I Can No Poet Be”. Pushy beats and bass shove a feverish sax and life pondering keys in the right direction on “Love’s Serenity”.

Das Goldenes Zeitalter – A Vision (Jazzman)

Organic nu funk earnestness meets lofty jazz spirituality on this rather charming three tracker. A relentless bass, horses’ hooves type percussion, delightful keys and a pain relieving flute produce the ecclesiastical image on “A Vision”. Mean brass, giddy keys and unfatigueable drums provide the forceful push on “Breakin’ Through”. “Im Würgegriff der Schönen Künste” is home to utopian flutes, keys that keep moving and an untrustworthy bass.

Landslide & Don Freeman – Conundrum (Sick Trumpet)

The immensely talented Landslide serves up the second release on Liverpool’s rising Sick Trumpet imprint. “Conundrum” is a fun broken step number, with chopped beats, synth hi-jinks and puzzled vocals from Don Freeman. The ‘Grimey Mix’ draws on Landslide’s love for 2-Step production aesthetics, shoving a nasty bass under polite strings and firm beats. Phil Asher supplies a minor key driven broken soul rejig, with carried away synths and emotional chords.

Tunng – The Pioneers (Static Caravan)

In an unexpected move, Tunng take Bloc Party’s ambition heavy number and reshape in an impressive manner for the folktronic market. Flapping in wind guitars, faithful vocals and light-footed beats meet on Tunng’s cover version of “The Pioneers”. “Tale From Black” is a gooey bassed morbid tale, whilst “Pool Beneath The Pond” sees a dusty banjo and romantic strings search for a dreamland.

The Strange Sound Orchestra – Strange Sense Of Liberty (Static Caravan)

The SSO threw down their conventional music making devices in order to make this EP using a host of weird and wonderful instruments. “Strange Sense Of Liberty” places artificial beats under jolly keys, cascading keys and a hummable bass. “Come On Dulcimer People (Pts 1 & 2)” is a rather weird number, with string type shakes, whispering wind sounds and a bass that could be made by a didgeridoo’s distant cousion. The Strange Sound Orchestra save the best for last, as the sugary kalimba driven “The Algorithim” rounds off the EP.

Kobbe & Trish Van Eynde – Exploration (F…U! F Com)

Powerful Techno is the name of the game here, with Kobbe & Trish Van Eynde serving up a pair of fearsome yet impressive dancefloor bangers. “Exploration” places a formidable bass under scowling synths and precise beats. “Voyager” is a belting number, with angular beats, a focused bass and detached synths.

Sao Paris – Ria (Remixes) (F Com)

Brazilian vocalist Letricia Maura and French producer Thomas Ferriere, of Limbo Experience fame, form the ear catching Sao Paris outfit. On this release, “Ria” has been reformed for Techier dancefloors. Fla & Chris Carrier’s remix dices up Letricia’s vocals, as a dangerous bass battles it out with controlling acid. Sex Schön’s remix is a downright nasty overhaul, with slap in face percussion, pummelling synths and a snarling bass.

My Robot Friend – 23 Minutes In Brussels (Soma)

Poppy electro fiends My Robot Friend arrive on Soma to cause some guitar fuelled electronic mayhem. “23 Minutes In Brussels” pits jolting beats and a demented bass against chimed keys and elongated guitar notes. MRF’s own ‘Super Jazzy Extended Version’ lets engaging keys and showy guitars flex their combined musical muscles a little further, whilst Tommie Sunshine delivers a couple of wailingly guitarred and heavy bassed refixes.

Jake Childs feat. Alexander East – The Pain EP (Freerange)

Jake Childs teams up with vocal powerhouse Alexander East on this straightforward House offering. Cold beats, glassy keys and a gratifying bass sit behind reassuring vocals on the original version. A wonkified bass pulls all the moves on Jake Child’s ‘Life After Death Dub’, whilst robotic beats and automated keys follow their instructions on Alexander East’s own Dub.

Boys Of Scandinavia – Why Do You Love Me? (Mate)

Lovers of macabre electro, shadowy disco and bleak guitar workouts, Helsinki’s Boys Of Scandinavia return with a twisted love song. Overwrought vocals ride assiduous drums and a chaffing bass on the fun original version. Marching percussion, arty guitars and a polluted bass make the Major Tweaks remix a darker proposition.

Digital Midgets – Caught Ya Wrecker (Backini RMX) (Cookshop)

Backini’s overhaul of “Caught Ya Wrecker” is the finest cut on Digital Midgets new “Delete The Frog EP”. Stop start guitar strumming, levelheaded keys and diced vocals meet on Backini’s stuttering touch-up.

Dr. Rubberfunk – Watch The Tables Turn (GPS)

Rubberfunk gets it right on this release when he ditches the vox and Hip Hop style posturing for some live sounding funkrobatics. Gorgeous guitar work, smiling synths and measured percussion makes the ‘Live Wired’ mix the pick of the bunch.

Groove Junkies – Just Groovin’ (Om)

OK, so this is never going to win awards for originality, but “Just Groovin’” is a likeably good-natured slice of peaktime House. Plum for the ‘Classic Roots’ version, where enthusiastic keys, loveable saxes and beautiful flutes do a sparkling dance.

That was fast! I’ve just reviewed the album of the World Soul Project a few days ago and Ben Flint has already answered my questions. So here are a few background infos about how the World Soul Project started, what Ben has learned while playing with Isaac Hayes, his job of teaching the History of Jazz, Blues and Ragtime at Vista College in Berkeley and much more.

Q: You are a pianist and multi-keyboardist. Please tell who and what has influenced you to pursue a professional career as musician. And who are your main musical influences?

Ben Flint: Well, I was not really good at anything else, so that didn’t leave me with many options. And I wasn’t interested in anything else either, so that helped focus me. We had a great High school band director (Jim Terry), and I went to a couple of Aebersold jazz camps and met the late James Williams (Art Blakey’s pianist). It was just a scene in Memphis - we used to go down to Huey’s every Sunday and hear the Midtown Jazz Mobile, and over to hear the Tony Thomas trio. Also, Joyce Cobb’s group with Donald Brown , Hot Fun. Bill Mobley would play around town too. I was hooked (later, Gerard Harris took over the Midtown Jazz Mobile gig and led it for years; Tony Thomas is still a great pianist in Memphis).
My first great influence was Chick Corea. But James turned me onto Phinneas Newborn, Jr. Then of course, I got into Herbie Hancock, the stuff he was doing in the 60s. I listened to James an awful lot, he was recording then. Later, I went thru this long period of trying to distill my ideas into a more succinct style. At that time, I was listening to a lot of Ahmad Jamal. Still do. Also, I love EST. They’re trying some new stuff.

Q: You’ve played with Isaac Hayes for over a decade. How influential was this time for you and the way you deal with music?

Ben Flint: Well, as a younger musician, I was not really rooted in the groove, I tended to play a little on top of the beat, and not dig in that much. One of the greatest things about playing with Isaac was that, learning how to really settle into a groove, dig in without rushing. The other thing I practiced with Isaac was trying to connect with the audience. As a pianist, it’s easy to look down all the time, which leaves everyone else out. So I would look out, and try to communicate the excitement of the music thru my face, and body. If you notice, when you’re talking to one person, you can be pretty relaxed about how clear you are, how loud. If you’re talking to 40 people, you really have to enunciate and project, maybe use your hands too. If you giving a speech to 10,000 you’re going to probably practice, of course use a mike, but also body language, tone of voice, enunciation, accents. The same when playing, the larger the audience, the bigger you have to communicate the music. With Isaac we played maybe 30,000 people at a time on some of the bigger shows.

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This exhibition takes its name from a hymn composed a century ago by two African-American brothers, James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson. Written in the days of the Jim Crow South, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” inspired African Americans to persist in their struggle for equal rights. During the 1920s, the song was being pasted into the backs of hymnals and had become known as the “Negro national anthem.” The hymn opens with an injunction to “ring with the harmonies of Liberty,” calling for those constitutional rights which were being denied to African American, and closes by affirming God and country. These sentiments frame hopes for a better future, “the white gleam of our bright star.”

Visit the Lift Every Voice Exhibition!

Just in case you’ve missed something last month, here are some highlights that were featured last month on jazz-not-jazz::

In conjunction with radio42.com and rautemusik.fm jazz-not-jazz presents two hours of simply great music every Friday 19:00-21:00 UTC+1 (you don’t have to convert it for Germany…that’s Friday 13:00-15:00 in NYC, Friday 10:00-12:00 in San Francisco and Saturday 04:00-06:00 in Sydney). The links of the audio stream can be found on radio42.com or global24music.com/rautemusik (look for Lounge there).

Here’s the playlist for Friday, 3rd:

Natural Selection: Meant To Be (from Come On Over)
Monica Dillon: My Baby (from All I Have Is A Moment)
Dee Robinson’s Black Pearls: Truly (from The Voyage)
Martha Redbone: God Created Woman (from Skintalk)
World Soul Project: Your Eyes (from World Soul Project)
Ingar Brown: Beautiful Places (from Words And Beats)
Nina Vidal: Do It Again (Piano & Vocal)
Barbara Seacrest & Her Yes Men: Tango (from Live)
Larry Epstein: Oh, What Could Have Been (from myTunes!)
Markus Strickland: Splendour (from Brotherhood)
Naima Shamborguer: Smile (from From My Heart To Yours)
Alice Coltrane: Morning Worship (from Eternity)
Doug Carn: Time Is Running Out (from Revelation)
The Rockmelons feat. Doug Williams: Love’s Gonna Bring You Home
YoYo Honey: Don’t Come To Leave (Jazz Mon Mix)
Grupo X: Brand New Love (from X-Posure)
Afra Behn: Seasons Spring (from Premier Cru Promo Sampler)
Dionne Ferris: Hopeless (from Love Jones MPST)
Children Of Judah: Think About It (from Waiting By The Gates Of Eden)
Gary Taylor: Rest My Lips (from One Day At A Time)
Full Force: Making Love On The Dancefloor (from Don’t Sleep)
Ruth Brown: St. Louis Blues (from Blues On Broadway)