Close your eyes and imagine: 4 Hero, Jazzanova, DJ Spinna, Osunlade, Kenny Dope, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Bugz in the Attic, Madlib--all in the same place, at the same time. Now imagine these same folks rummaging through the vaults of legendary jazz music label, Blue Note. Now imagine these same folks re-constructing Blue Note classics such as Bobby Hutcherson’s “La Malanga”, Donald Byrd’s “Lansanna’s Priestess”, and Horace Silver’s “Won’t You Open up Your Senses?” Now imagine their efforts compiled in one nicely priced LP or CD. . . Okay, open! Guess what, “Blue Note Revisited”—the product of your vivid (and quite discerning imagination) sits right before your eyes, now available at a record store near you.
You all know how this works by now. Verve did it, twice before. Now Blue Note takes a stab, intelligently including some of the heavy-hitters that were looked over for the prior Verve projects. For this project, Blue Note hand-picked the artists listed above and others like, J Dilla, Herbert, DJ Cam, and DJ Mehdi, based upon these artists demonstrated deep roots in jazz music.
I’ll give all the tracks a thumbs up for effort alone. The artists’ renditions create new bodies for these classic pieces of music, while retaining the full essence of each song’s soul. DJ Spinna’s take on Donald Byrd’s “Lansanna’s Priestess (which I think I’ve played at least once everyday for the past two months), and Jaydee’s version of Brother Jack McDuff’s “Oblighetto” (sample spotters check A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario”) intertwine modern soul-influenced hip-hop and house, with the original tune. Of course Bugz in the Attic’s highly anticipated version of Gene Harris’ “Losalamitoslatinfunklovesong” is a real winner. This one begins deceptively close to the original, then spins off into broken-beated dancefloor insanity. Gorgeously done by Japan’s Kyoto Jazz Massive is Eddie Henderson’s “Kudu”. Madlib having already shown his stuff to the Blue Note crew, steps up again spinning Bobbi Humphrey’s “Young Warrior” into new heights, weaving his trademark blunted-in-the-basement soundscape into a heavy jazzdance tune, with an absolutely stunning bassline.
Jazzanova went mad techy on Eddie Gale’s “Song of Will”, while Osunlade pulled in the island influences of his current resting spot Puerto Rico for Grant Green’s “A Time Remember”. 4 Hero chose Horace Silver’s “Won’t You Open up Your Senses” (the original was featured on their “Lifestyles” compilation) and refashioned it into a cool classic-sounding version with live drums and keys.
Even with all this remixing and refashioning, “Blue Note Revisited” feels like a jazz collection. The overall tone is rich, classic, and honest—everything that a tribute to this extraordinary record label should be.
