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Holiday Music Roundup: Remixes

John Hilderbrand — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:22:20 +0000

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.

This season, there are two remix projects for the holidays. When the first Verve//Remixed came out, I contacted Verve and said, with their vault, Christmas music would be ideal for a remix project. I didn’t think it could go wrong. Oops. Verve//Remixed Christmas is out now. From the samples I heard – it was not to my liking. It’s got the usual Verve roster that gets remixed – Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and so on. Coal in the stockings for some of these remixers – there is no holiday spirit to be found on this collection.

If your taste is really into electronica, you’ll enjoy Christmas Regrooved 2. It’s hit and miss for me. Misses are most of the covers of classic carols. I love jazz-influenced electronic music but I’m missing the jazz feel here. Still, there may be something of interest. A jazz sound isn’t a goal of this compilation so I can’t judge it as such.

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Billie Holiday Remixed and Reimagined

John Hilderbrand — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:34:25 +0000

Billie Holiday gets another remix treatment on August 7 with Billie Holiday: Remixed and Reimagined. It’s Sony/Legacy’s follow-up to last year’s Nina Simone: Remixed and Reimagined. Remixers and artists include Tony Humphries, DJ Logic, Charles Feelgood, DJ Swingsett, Nickodemus, Jazzy Nice, Organica, trumpeter Fabio Morgera (from Groove Collective) and Lady Day Mecca (from Digable Planets). The press release is up at All About Jazz. You can order the CD from Amazon.com (purchase through this link benefits ContemporaryJazz.com).

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New Incognito, Benson/Jarreau, Madlib/Norah Jones, and More!

John Hilderbrand — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:24:14 +0000

Bluey = Busy. Incognito’s Eleven just hit stores in the States earlier this year but the band has already recorded a new album that is scheduled for release in October (in the UK)! Beyond that, Bluey plans to hit the studio again later this year for yet another new CD for early next year! According to the Incognito site http://www.incognito.org.uk/, this fall’s Bees + Things + Flowers is a mostly acoustic affair with a 16-piece string section. Vocalists on it include Jocelyn Brown, Maysa, Imaani, and Carleen Anderson. I heard a stripped-down Incognito recently on an XM special and it was impressive. I won’t wait for the possibility that it will be distributed here – this is a guaranteed import.

George Benson and Al Jarreau have teamed for a new release. Givin’ It Up will be out on October 24th from the Concord Music Group and Monster Music, the newly created record division of high-end audio supplier Monster Cable. Monster Music will make Givin’ It Up available in a fancy High Definition Surround SuperDisc package that you should be able to hear in the home audio section of your favorite big box store. There are thirteen tracks on the recording and the guest list is awesome: Paul McCartney, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Jill Scott, Stanley Clarke, and more. Concord’s site has more info.

Also on the topics of collaborations and legendary soul jazz artists: Randy Crawford and Joe Sample reunite on Feeling Good, out later this month (distributed by Universal). No Stateside release date is listed on Amazon . . . Madlib produces Norah Jones? Believe it! This from a Stones Throw Records email: “Madlib produces Talib Kweli and Norah Jones on Kweli’s upcoming album to be released this fall” . . . Stanton Moore has signed with Telarc. His new release, III, is out on September 26. . . . Over a year since it was originally announced, Explorations: Classic Picante Regrooved Vol. 1 finally sees the light of day on August 29. The Latin jazz label’s catalog is remixed by producers Masters at Work, Thievery Corporation, Cut Chemist, Dan the Automator, Carl Cox, Los Amigos Invisibles, Hex Hector, Ozomatli, and Yerba Buena. Looking forward to this! I’m encouraged that Concord has labeled this “Vol. 1”.

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