January sees the U.S. release of More Tales Remixed, the remix compilation of songs from Bluey’s last studio recording, Tales from the Beach. Russell Myrie interviewed Bluey for The Voice earlier in 2008 and noted that 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of the first Incognito release. Jazz Funk. He also perhaps got a peek at [...]

I’ve been a fan of jazz remixes since I first heard the original Verve//Remixed. I guess it was a fad. I don’t see many anymore. I thought it was a good way to introduce younger generations to some classic jazz. However, some remixers completely destroyed any jazz element of some of the songs I heard. [...]

One constant in the contemporary jazz world is the planning and reliable execution of Heads Up recordings. I just got the list for 2009 and it’s another winner for contemporary jazz fans. I’ll elaborate more in later posts but here’s what’s on the schedule: January Incognito – More Tales Remixed – remixes of songs from [...]

Billie Holiday is receiving a good amount of press as she would have celebrated her 90th birthday this month. Among other things, she?s on the cover of the May issue of JazzTimes and an acclaimed 2-CD+DVD retrospective has been released. Nnenna Freelon is releasing a tribute to Lady Day this fall, which I’m looking forward [...]

Verve Remixed 3 came out yesterday. It sounds noticeably different from the first two. While the previous two had great diversity in the ways songs were remixed (often I would love or hate a remix), this one sounds more homogenized. There won?t be a major shock going from track to track. (which are almost all [...]

We’ve heard jazz classics from the Verve and Blue Note catalogs remixed and reworked. Now it’s Bird’s turn. On October 21, Savoy Records will release Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project. Dan the Automator, Me’shell Ndegeocello, Hal Willner, Rob Swift, and Serj Tankian (from System of a Down) are among the artists transforming some [...]

Verve has released the second in what I hope will be many more volumes of its Remixed series. Verve//Remixed 2 effectively modernizes music from the Verve catalog that may already be labeled as timeless. As on the first volume, Verve has some of the most notable DJs on the scene contributing. Grammy-nominated Felix da Housecat [...]