Close Out Inaugural Run of Jazz Is Dead Releases with
Remix Album Revisiting Full Catalog with
Critically Acclaimed Producers
on Remixes JID010
Featuring Remixes by Musical Alchemists
from the Jazz Is Dead Sphere:
Cut Chemist, DJ Spinna, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Akili, Shigeto,
Pink Siifu, Dibiase, Natureboy Flako, and Kaidi Tatham
As the final chapter in the initial run of Jazz Is Dead releases, Remixes JID010 continues the creative catharsis of an exhilarating new chapter in jazz music. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad tapped nine iconic creators to reimagine their personal favorites from Jazz Is Dead’s catalogue to-date, who created striking new versions of songs by Marcos Valle, Roy Ayers, Gary Bartz, Azymuth, João Donato, Doug Carn, Brian Jackson and The Midnight Hour. Holding the line taut like a bass string, Younge & Muhammad only invited those special musical alchemists who have previously participated in Jazz Is Dead happenings, or those who are slated to share that stage soon: Cut Chemist, DJ Spinna, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Akili, Shigeto, Pink Siifu, Dibiase, Natureboy Flako, and Kaidi Tatham. It’s a family affair.
The album blasts off with Kaidi Tatham’s reinvention of Marcos Valle’s wistful beachside stroll, transforming “Gotta Love Again” into a strutting, pulsating excursion equally at home in the club and headphones. Building off of Valle’s mellifluous vocalizations, Tatham harnesses the composition’s polyrhythms to build a soulful, jazz-house track that floats over ethereal synths and stutter-steps to a propulsive beat entirely unimaginable, yet true to the spirit of the optimistic and effortless original.
On his remix of Gary Bartz’s “Soulsea” Cut Chemist taps into the big-beat atmospherics of his old running partner, DJ Shadow, to craft a moody, echo-laden, percussive down-tempo saxophone meditation. Creating drama over bombastic beats, Cut Chemist layers Bartz’s searching sax refrains over sparse keyboard bars.
Brian Jackson’s mellow masterpiece dedicated to the recently departed jazz vocalist, “Nancy Wilson”, receives an epic overhaul by producer Shigeto with help from harpist Ahya Simone and DJ Dez Andres. More than tripling the original’s duration while adding layers of new sounds, Shigeto’s remix weaves in and out of movements that alternately showcase Jackson’s soulful flute work, Simone’s sparkling harp and Andres’ bubbling percussion. Imagine if Dorthy Ashby and Hermeto Pascoal dropped in on Miles’ In A Silent Way sessions.
It might have been a foregone conclusion that Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad would give their Jazz Is Dead series the remix treatment, but that doesn’t mean this is your average remix album. Just like Younge and Muhammad fused their aesthetic with the musical masters they invited to collaborate with for Jazz Is Dead, the DJs, producers and musicians tasked with remixing songs from the catalogue tapped into the same jazz ethos, resulting in imaginative and sometimes radically reimagined versions of the originals.
As the final chapter in the initial run of Jazz Is Dead releases, Remixes JID010 continues the creative catharsis of an exhilarating new chapter in jazz music. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad tapped nine iconic creators to reimagine their personal favorites from Jazz Is Dead’s catalogue to-date, who created striking new versions of songs by Marcos Valle, Roy Ayers, Gary Bartz, Azymuth, João Donato, Doug Carn, Brian Jackson and The Midnight Hour. Holding the line taut like a bass string, Younge & Muhammad only invited those special musical alchemists who have previously participated in Jazz Is Dead happenings, or those who are slated to share that stage soon: Cut Chemist, DJ Spinna, Georgie Anne Muldrow, Akili, Shigeto, Pink Siiffu, Dibiase, Natureboy Flako, and Kaidi Tathum. It’s a family affair.
The album blasts off with Kaidi Tathum’s reinvention of Marcos Valle’s wistful beachside stroll, transforming “Gotta Love Again” into a strutting, pulsating excursion equally at home in the club and headphones. Building off of Valle’s mellifluous vocalizations, Tathum harnesses the composition’s polyrhythms to build a soulful, jazz-house track that floats over ethereal synths and stutter-steps to a propulsive beat entirely unimaginable, yet true to the spirit of the optimistic and effortless original.
On his remix of Gary Bartz’s “Soulsea” Cut Chemist taps into the big-beat atmospherics of his old running partner, DJ Shadow, to craft a moody, echo-laden, percussive down-tempo saxophone meditation. Creating drama over bombastic beats, Cut Chemist layers Bartz’s searching sax refrains over sparse keyboard bars.
Brian Jackson’s mellow masterpiece dedicated to the recently departed jazz vocalist, “Nancy Wilson”, receives an epic overhaul by producer Shigeto with help from harpist Ahya Simone and DJ Dez Andres. More than tripling the original’s duration while adding layers of new sounds, Shigeto’s remix weaves in and out of movements that alternately showcase Jackson’s soulful flute work, Simone’s sparkling harp and Andres’ bubbling percussion. Imagine if Dorthy Ashby and Hermeto Pascoal dropped in on Miles’ In A Silent Way sessions...
It might have been a foregone conclusion that Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad would give their Jazz Is Dead series the remix treatment, but that doesn’t mean this is your average remix album. Just like Younge and Muhammad fused their aesthetic with the musical masters they invited to collaborate with for Jazz Is Dead, the DJs, producers and musicians tasked with remixing songs from the catalogue tapped into the same jazz ethos, resulting in imaginative and sometimes radically reimagined versions of the originals.
1. Marcos Valle - Gotta Love Again (Kaidi Tathum Remix)
2. Roy Ayers - Soulful and Unique (Pink Siifu Remix)
3. Gary Bartz - Soulsea (Cut Chemist Remix)
4. João Donato - Desejo De Amor (Akili Remix)
5. Brian Jackson - Nancy Wilson (Shigeto Remix Feat. Ahya Simone & Dez Andrès)
6. Doug Carn - Windfall (Natureboy Flako Remix)
7. Azymuth - Quiet Storm (Akili Remix)
8. The Midnight Hour - Jazz Is Dead (Georgia Anne Muldrow Geemix)
9. João Donato - Liaisons (Dibiase Remix)
10. Azymuth Redor Do Samba (DJ Spinna Remix)
Marcos Valle – Gotto Love Again (Kaidi Tathum Remix)
All Instruments by Kaidi Tatham
Mixed by Eric Lau
Brian Jackson – Nancy Wilson (Shigeto Remix Feat. Ahya Simone & Dez Andrès)
Shigeto: drums, rhodes, synth, percussion
Ahya Simone: harp
Dez Andrés: congas
The Midnight Hour - Jazz Is Dead (Georgia Anne Muldrow Geemix)
Remixed by Georgia Anne Muldrow for Epistrophik Peach
João Donato - Liaisons (Dibiase Remix)
Remixed by Dibiase for 10thirty records
Azymuth - Quiet Storm (Akili Remix)
Remixed by Akili for BlackTransit Productions
João Donato - Desejo De Amor (Akili Remix)
Remixed by Akili for BlackTransit Productions
Azymuth Redor Do Samba (DJ Spinna Remix)
Remixed by DJ Spinna for Beyond Real Productions
Drum programming and additional synths - DJ Spinna
Mixed by DJ Spinna @ The Thingamajig Lab2, Brooklyn NY
Roy Ayers - Soulful and Unique (Pink Siifu Remix)
Produced by iiyefor Pink Siifu with additional harp by Ss.Sylver
Gary Bartz - Soulsea (Cut Chemist Remix)
Remixed by Cut Chemist for A Stable Sound. Recorded at The Stable
Doug Carn - Windfall (Natureboy Flako Remix)
Natureboy Flako Remix recorded and mixed at The Healing Place
One happy thing to be grateful for during otherwise trying times is finally getting to hear and enjoy new work by a man whose music is familiar to millions even if his name is less so. Indeed, Gil Scott-Heron continues to cast such a wide shadow that even many of his biggest fans often seem to forget that there's another name next to his on the bulk of his albums, the name of a man teamed up with Gil as a teenager and proceeded to ride out the decade as his writing partner, keyboardist, arranger, and bandleader for their Midnight Band. That man's name is Brian Jackson.
His considerable backlog of unheard material reveals a still-energetic and still-vital icon of the music wing of the Black Liberation movement. Prepare to hear from a musician whose work has contributed to the enhancement of all our lives in some form or another with the latest installment of the Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge’s Jazz Is Dead series.
“Brian Jackson is the first album we recorded for Jazz Is Dead. He set the tone for the entire label,” reflects Younge. “He turned our aspirations global. We never knew what this could all be, but with his inspirational character and musicianship, he led us on the right path. We are forever indebted to this icon.”
Brian Jackson JID008, available August 6, is the first full album released by the great man in 20 years (with the exception of Evolutionary Minded, an homage to Gil released eight years ago) and it's a testament to his multifaceted talents that while there are moments throughout that hint at his game-changing history and track record, for the most part it reveals a musician who pulls from lessons garnered over a 50+ year career only to keep his eyes firmly fixed on the future. “When we got together, the sounds flowed effortlessly,” recalls Jackson.
“As Dru, Adrian, Adam and I were charting a course for Jazz Is Dead from outside of our imaginations to a destination of wonder and possibilities, in walks legend and fellow Brooklynite Brian Jackson,” says Shaheed Muhammad. “We let the impact be our guide, fully capturing the moment in this recording. Brian’s smile and free flowing style takes us to the place where groove meets chill. This is the dawning of JID recordings.”
Brian Jackson JID008 serves as a masterclass in unbridled and open-minded creativity, no different from what Jackson did half a century ago. The ease and comfort with which his ideas integrate with those of musicians a generation younger than him bears this out. To listen to this album is to hear a hot up-and-coming musician who also happens to be a major jazz-funk legend.
Jackson really earned the equal billing on that string of classic Arista albums he and Gil made together because he went a long way towards keeping the musical ship of Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, and the Midnight Band's musical ship afloat. Many of the classic tracks on those albums bear Jackson’s name alongside Gil's in the writing credits and his distinctive musical signature brought all of it to life. Jackson has kept a considerably lower profile over the last few decades since those halcyon days but those fortunate enough to have caught him live playing and singing the GSH/BJ classics he was so central in creating (as well as tantalizing glimpses of newer material) know that his music, chops, wisdom, and charm are fully intact and in fact even better than ever, like a bottle of fine jazz-funk wine.
“It wasn’t until Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge and I joyfully completed the sessions at Linear Labs in February of 2019 that I remembered my favorite song of my former writing partner Gil Scott-Heron’s post-70s tracks, ‘Don’t Give Up,’ was produced by Ali,” remembers Jackson. “Adrian had already made an impression on me for his soundtrack work on Black Dynamite, Luke Cage and his authentic ‘70s music feel.”
"Nancy Wilson" is an elegiac tribute to the recently departed jazz-R&B icon, hinging on the combination of Jackson’s magical flute sound and a simple-yet enchanting piano motif playing against a funky rimshot/kick drum pattern. Even devoid of lyrics, the sincerity of this tribute to the already much-missed chanteuse comes through loud and clear in every bar of this wonderful and effortlessly melodic track.
A dramatic Rhodes intro from one of the true masters of the instrument, soon joined by drums, bass and mini-Moog, heralds "Mars Walk," which is a kind of sonic equivalent of bouncing around the surface of our neighboring Red Planet in a space suit. Think of this track as a jazz-funk Rover.
“’What’s this,’ I inquired as I opened the case to the alto flute Adrian had laying around the studio amid the myriad other instruments he had collected,” recalls Jackson. “Within minutes, I was recording with it. A few more tracks in, and I had jumped on the Minimoog to add some melodies and piano to tracks Adrian and Ali had penned. The next day, we went in and wrote a song together on the spot, with Malachi Morehead holding the rhythm down tight.
The first several bars of "Ethiopian Sunshower" simultaneously recall the essence of both post-bop and early fusion, but they quickly give way to a delicious Ethio-Jazz-inspired Afro groove on which Jackson’s flute once again makes an appearance in the role of a funky snake charmer over percolating percussion. It all adds up to an album highlight sure to inspire many remixes.
"Bain De Minuit" was inspired by Jackson’s wife, who happens to be French, and is the album's longest and most reflective track, reminiscent of some of the mellow-yet-deep classics he wrote or co-wrote with Gil such as "A Very Precious Time" or "A Prayer for Everybody." The influence that their recently departed close collaborator Malcolm Cecil had on Jackson’s music can also be felt in some of the synth tones heard throughout the track.
“If for some reason the respect and love we have for each other is not evident in the sounds here, let me tell it straight,” declares Jackson. “From the first minute, we could feel that our musical roots made us all a part of the same tree. This album is the offshoot of that notion. It is my hope these sounds also nourish the roots of your spirit.”
1) Under The Bridge
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Fender Rhodes piano, Alto flute, Monophonic synthesizer
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Electric bass guitar, Electric guitar, Clarinet, Percussion
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
2) Mars Walk
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Fender Rhodes piano, Monophonic synthesizer
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Electric bass guitar, Electric guitar, Clarinet, Percussion
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
3) Young Muhammad
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Clavinet
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Grand piano, Electric bass guitar, Electric guitar, Clarinet, Percussion
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
4) Nancy Wilson
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Alto flute
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Grand Piano, Electric Bass, Electric guitar, Clarinet
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
5) Baba Ibeji
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Fender Rhodes
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Electric Bass, Electric guitar, Clarinet
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
6) Duality
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Fender Rhodes piano
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Grand Piano, Electric Bass, Electric guitar
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
7) Bain de Minuit
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Fender Rhodes piano, Monophonic synthesizer
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Electric Bass, Electric guitar, Clarinet
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
8) Ethiopian Sunshower
a. Musicians:
i. Brian Jackson: Fender Rhodes piano, Alto & C Flute
ii. Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Electric Bass, Electric guitar, Alto saxophone, Monophonic synthesizer
iii. Malachi Morehead: Drums
b. Written by: Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
