"Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked". . . here we go again with another hip-underground-producers-remix/reinterpret/rework/re-edit-jazz greats CD. I check the remixer line-up-- SA-RA, Wu Tang's RZA, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Gerardo Frisina, Boozoo Bajou, Telefon Tel-Aviv— alright, so my interest is piqued. But I cast the CD aside anyway because I remember my initial enchantment with the Verve Remixed series and how that fizzled fast. "I know," I think after a week or so of not listening to the CD, "I'll listen to the unmixed disc first." After all, that's really one of the main ideas behind these projects, right? To garner a new listenership for the classic jazz music from days past. I am not surprised by the excellence I find on the collection of originals which makes me eye the remix project with increased skepticism. "Oh heck," I say aloud to myself, "just listen to the damn thing. After all, that is your job as a music writer."
The rework CD gets off to a flying start with SA-RA's interp of George Russell's "A Helluva Town" to which they add a techno-bounce driving rhythm to the original pace set by Max Roach's wicked drums. The RZA takes Charles Mingus' "II B.S." slow and low before picking up to the original pace allowing Mingus' bassline to rollick along to a hip-hop beat. From there, the album reaches its height with Mark de Clive-Lowe's work on Chico Hamilton's "El Toro" and Prefuse 73's remix of Gabor Szabo's "Mizrab." I am transfixed by the profound respect evident in both artists' interpretations of those songs. With Gerardo Frisina's remix of "Swing Low Sweet Cadillac," and DJ Dolores' remix of "Spanish Rice" I find myself well into the CD, turning up the volume, bobbing my head and thoroughly enjoying the listen. After a beautiful take by Telefon Tel-Aviv on "Stolen Moments," the CD ends on a very special note with Ravi Coltrane (John's son) and Julie Patton performing the senior Coltrane's "At Night."
At this point, I could throw in a cliché about not judging books by cover and making assumptions, but instead, I'll just doff my hat to the good folks at Impulse! and say "well done."
