After a long hiatus, I'm back with a new installment of the Audio Odyssey featuring a tasty selection of underground hip hop, jazzy downtempo, funk beats, nu soul, and other assorted sonic delicacies. I'm going to try to keep the show monthly in 2010, but it would be foolish to make any promises considering how crazy these past few months have been--and how eventful the next few promise to be.
OdDio's Audio Odyssey - Episode 09 : Left Hook
1. Katalyst feat. Steve Spacek – How Bout Us – Invada
Gerardo Frisina is a vital piece of the Ishtar equation. His deep knowledge of
jazz has been key in the creation and success of Ishtar, which houses
most notably the Schema and Rearward labels. He began as a producer for
artists involved with Ishtar and quickly moved into production of his
own records. This began with the release of Ad Lib in 2001 and has
since brought us Hi Note and The Latin Kick. Along the way, he has
managed to ring up an impressive catalog of remixes of modern jazz
tunes, as well as an incredible selection of classic artists including
the likes of Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, and more. -DJ Offbeat
Having moved around like I have, and having relatively mellow tastes like I do has meant that over the years I've played more than my fair share of warm-up sets. Though there's nothing quick as exhilirating as playing to a packed dancefloor in full form, there's also a great pleasure to be had in building things up at the beginning of the night.
Why do I love to play early, as people are just getting to the club? There's generally more freedom, for one. The early slot is a perfect time to play all the records you might not normally be able to get away with, and it lends itself well to covering a wide variety of styles and genres in a short period of time--a perfect way keep it interesting and hit on the specific tastes of everyone in the room. And, of course, when you finish the night is still young and you can relax, check out the other DJs' sets, and enjoy the full selection of beverages available at the bar.
Recently I was in the mood for putting together just such a mix, a typical early-night set. I was pleased with the results I decided to share them with one of Spain's finest dance music portals, Clubbingspain. It's been getting some nice feedback so far, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to register and post a few kind words in support of the mix.
It's been some winter. Warm up to this...
Andrew OdDio - Clubbingspain Mix (The Warm Up)
The Salsoul Orchestra – “Ooh I love It”
(Love Break Groove) – Salsoul
Moodymann – “People” – Peacefrog
Manzel – “Sugar Dreams” – Dopebrother
Kutiman – “Music’s Ruling My World” (DJ Day
Remix) – Melting Pot
Manu Dibango v. Masters at Work – “New
Bell” – White Label
Incredible Bongo Band – “Apache” – Mr.
Bongo
Brownout – “African Battle” – Alternate
Take
Syrup – “Sweatshop” – Compost
Lee McDonald – “We’ve Just Begun” (TM Juke
Mix) – Favourite
Gil Scott Heron – “The Bottle” (Daz-I-Kue
Re-edit) – Bloodfire
Street Choir – “Phone Booth” – Choir
Mouzon’s Electric Band – “Everybody Get
Down” – Vanguard
The Scandanavian countries have a long and strong jazz tradition, but like most
of the music you'll hear on this site I came to know of it late, and by way of house music. I think the first points of contact, for me, were the Nuspirit Helsinki releases that came out on Guidance in the late 90s and early 00s. At that time I wasn't at all clear on what Nu-jazz was, or Broken Beat, or Jazzdance--but I liked what I was hearing, and felt increasingly drawn to less formulaic dance music. There seemed to be an interesting cross-polination happening between Italy, Japan, Germany, and Finland--and the Nuspirit name showed up elsewhere, cropping up on labels like JCR, remixing artists like Nicola Conte, and making all around wonderful music.
The early to mid 00s were an interesting time for dance music, with many producers putting aside their old aesthetics and trying for more organic sounds through live instrumentation. Nuspirit Helsinki shuffled their lineup and started releasing records under the name the Five Corners Quintet. This was not sample-based nujazz, but live jazz with true jazz sensibility and musicianship. In 2003 they released their landmark first 10" Trading Eights on the newly-formed Ricky-Tick Records--but they were not alone. Other groups from surrounding countries, such as Koop (Sweden) and Povo (Denmark), were involved in a similar project to revamp sixties style jazz for the dancefloor. With one foot firmly planted in the bop, cool jazz, and spiritual
jazz tradition and the other taking a big step into the future, this music brought steady acclaim through the rest of the decade--from DJs, music critics, and open-minded dancefloors alike.
Given the impact of the work of the Ricky-Tick artists Timo Lassey, Five Corners Quintet, Dalindeo, Jukka Eskola we were eager to make them the subject of one of our decade-ending restrospectives, but as they represent just a part of the jazz movement happening up north, we were happy to welcome artists on DNM (Oddjob, Soular Sound), Raw Fusion (A Bossa Eletrica, Povo), and JCR (Koop) into our geographically-defined "Scandinavian Jazz Special."
Scandinavian Jazz Specialby OdDio (tracks 1-9), DJ Offbeat (tracks 10-15, 25-26), and Chris Galvan (tracks 14-20)
1. Fertile Ground - Another Day (Povo Jazz Rework)
2. Povo - We Are Povo
3. Five Corners Quintent feat. Mark Murphy - Jamming (with Mr. Hoagland) (Nicola Conte "For Friends and Relatives" Version)
4. Soular Sound - Things We Do (Nils Krough Alternative Take)
5. Hi-Fly Orchestra - Violet (Povo Rework)
6. Jukka Eskola - Kulo (Studio Live, Take 4)
7. Dalindeo - Solifer-Lento
8. Nostalgia 77 - Wildflower (Povo Remix)
9. Shaun Escoffery - Breaking Away (Koop Remix)
10. Jukka Eskola - 1974
11. Dalindeo - Poseidon
12. Five Corners Quintet - Blueprint
13. High Five Quintet - Conversation (Nicola Conte New Jazz Club Mix)
14. Timo Lassy - African Rumble
15. Auteur Jazz - Two Jaguars In Warsaw
16. Koop - Never Gonna Let You Go
17. Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu - Black January
19. A Bossa Eletrica - Consolocao
20. Timo Lassy ft Jose James - The More I Look At You
21. Bobby Hughes Combination - Magnificent Mr. Morgan
