the secret library

Familiar Faces?

2011-11-27T19:52:00.005-05:00

These high school kids playing jazz thirty three years ago to the day is so endearing. And now that Herb Albert's Rise has entered an unlikely musical lexicon thanks to P-Diddy's effortless sampling prowess, any cover version has hypnotizing potential. This analog lacks the epic breakdown Puffiesque producers would use, and instead let's Robin Radus loose on the keys when the trumpeter's lips go numb. On the flip is The Lane Jazz Band's take on the jazz standard So What by Miles Davis. They loose the swing and phase the bassline over a rock drum beat.

GET FAMILIAR WITH IT

Brazilian Wax

2011-06-07T12:17:00.004-04:00

Girls love Brazilian music. The lyrics sound romantic with just a touch of rough—like good sex. And, for the most part, the themes are sunny and optimistic. The bossa beat: playful. But anyone who has at least seen City of God knows that it's not all lush tropical paradise around the rio.

Brazil: Songs of Protest was released in the late sixties and is a counterpoint to the well known brazilian bossa sound that had such an influence on american jazz of that decade. Instead, these tracks are brooding and heavy, dark and melodic, and tell tales of suffering and pain—like really good sex.

THE DARK SIDE

Cut With Vigor

2011-03-16T19:32:00.006-04:00

The Pazant Brothers are quintessential New Orleans Funk. But their records are harder to grab than a gatur in the grass. Perhaps the most elusive is a beast of a 45 with Chick A Boom on the underbelly. You would recognize it as the backing vocal chorus on Mainsource's Looking at the Front Door—a golden era staple.

In my edit, I emphasize the name-sake chant and tame the creole spices that often make this Big Easy Jam from 1973 taste a bit dated in two thousand whatever.

BOOM!!!

Good Grief!

2010-12-10T15:40:00.001-05:00

My living room is home to thousands of obscure and hard hitting funk monsters. There's a section for library records, a section for hoctor/statler records, a section for school band funk . . . But when Monk-One stops by, all he seems to want to hear are piquant waltzes, fox trots and box steps. Who am I to deny this blockhead his fix of Charlie Brown jazz?

MERRY X-MAS

Live & Uncut

2010-07-19T15:14:00.004-04:00

Everyone* knows the MAZE live album. (*everyone: Brits in the 80's and any American who has ever attended a black family reunion) The live version of Before I Let Go and Joy & Pain have had plenty of radio air time in the last quarter century. But, their best song was unjustly decapitated for the commercial release. This is the unedited head-to-toe version:

HERE'S TO YOU

Chicano Frog-Rock

2010-07-03T17:54:00.004-04:00

These six bay area fools and their evil papier mâché amphibi-friend can get down, jack! Drum breaks, latin rhythms, and energetic horns create a mood that only existed for a short time in history in foggy California. If you like classic Santana...well... if you don't: see a doctor, sapo.

HOP TO IT

Can You Hear Me . . . ?

2010-06-28T14:46:00.003-04:00

I've been enjoying the challenge of re-creating instrumentals without the master tapes. So I added some punchy drum layers, got funky with the clavichord, and rearranged it for 2010 and beyond.
Black Hole 1 (Instrumental Rework by Oneman) by Oneman

I'm (playing with) Rick James, Bitch!

2010-05-24T14:44:00.003-04:00

I thought this groove was pretty cool, but sounded so...sing-songy. No offense, Rick, by why don't you sit this one out. A little editing work and a little "modern love" and I was able to create an instrumental version of Merry-Go-Round that's dancefloor compatible.
Merry-Go-Round (Oneman's Instrumental Rework) by Oneman

Funky Electric Vio-Lin

2010-03-22T23:24:00.010-04:00

I must confess this album is Fun. . The album is quite unusual. . My electric voilin. . Many thanks—Elliot Fisher writes in his liner notes. This obtuse album on Dobre records, In the Land of Make Believe, is as funky as tiny-stringed-soloing jazz albums get. . that don't involve Michal Urbaniak.

MAKE BELIEVE

NYCT Remixes ft. Los Fulanos

2010-03-02T11:03:00.003-05:00

We were flattered and elated when the Barcelona funk-monsters, Los Fulanos, asked us if they could reinterpret our original composition, The Forgotten Chant. From there, the Remix LP was born. Accomplished contemporaries like TM Juke & The Jack Baker Trio and the Colman Bros were among others to get involved in this LP that I am so very proud to be a part of.
The Forgotten Chant (Revisited by Los Fulanos) by Names You Can Trust

NYCT Remixes ft. DJ DRM

2010-03-02T10:36:00.009-05:00

Our new REMIX project features artists from all over the globe interpreting songs from the Names You Can Trust catalog. This uptempo version of Midnight Lab Band's Twilight Reprise came from all the way down the block! My man DJ DRM from Bastard Jazz did a lovely job tweaking the songs original beauty and adding new levels of sophistication to create a distinct and divine musical landscape.
Midnight Lab Band – Twilight Reprise (DJ DRM Remix) by Oneman

Sippin' on Some Slivovitz

2010-01-06T17:35:00.006-05:00

I think it was Prince Paul who once said that the bigger the afro on the cover of an LP, the better the funk would be. That certainly appears as gospel (Bobbi Humphry -> Funkadelic -> Lafayette Afro Rock Band.)

And for a while I had my own rule: If it said Jazz-Rock on the cover, it was dopeness. (Nowadays I'm more of a Space-Disco kinda guy.)

Panoramic Jazz-Rock by Marius Popp is just as sumptuous an album as they come. With great open drums, warm Wurlitzer sprinkles, bright horn stabs, and of course a little crackle and hiss in the vinyl, it's a grand listen in the living room.

BETTER WITH BRANDY

Spices from Thailand

2010-01-04T12:36:00.004-05:00

The Impossibles enjoyed their success in the seventies being acclaimed one of Thailand's greatest bands. To this day, if you've got some extra bahts, you can grab yourself one of many karaoke CDs taken from their catalogue and singh along.

While this album contains an occassional pop tune or two (easy to be hard, love will keep us together) it's really their funk LP. The band sounds a lot like Kool & the Gang (greatest funk band ever?) especially when they cover them (give it up, love the life you live.)

If you enjoyed the international funk stylings of the Xingu Combo I posted earlier, then you're gonna be cool with Hot Pepper for sure. Something about these weird american accents over full force funk kind of does it for me.

OPEN SESAME

The Oneman Sound

2009-12-10T18:10:00.007-05:00

From a bizarre, almost silly mustache-band of three Belgians acting brazilian and calling themselves the "Two Man Sound" came the underground disco anthem "Que Tal America".

There are a few versions of this song in various vinyl formats—the nine and a half minute keyboard-laden LP cut, the american disco twelve inch version with the added drum break and rapping, the canadian dub, the house remix I heard in Chelsea Markets last weekend, etc. All built of off one of the sickest basslines in disco histo.

In my edit, I chop, loop, filter, eq, and blend bits together to give it a more twentyfirst century feel while maintaining the rock on the 21st century disco dance floor.

Que Tal America (Oneman's Vinyl Blends Re-Edit) by Oneman

Shades of Blues

2009-11-30T15:39:00.005-05:00

De La Soul and Prince Paul are guilty of ripping off other musicians. They always have been and, god bless 'em, they always will be. For their intro to Buhloone Mind State, they pretty much just dropped the needle on this Outlaw Blues Band LP and took turns chanting over it until they were ready to put in real work. Anyway, enough about those lazy bastards. [end sarcasm]

Now here is a sumptuous blues album... or, at least, half of it. It wouldn't be the blues if you got it all now, would it?

B-SIDE BLUES

Xingu !!

2009-11-18T18:03:00.007-05:00

Legend has it this LP by the El Combo Xingu was discovered by Egon and his boys over at Stones Throw. At the time, collector's were comfortable shelling out half a G large for this Chilean funk-bomb. Taking the broker route, i waited for my two-digit $hopportunity. It doesn't have the "original" cover, but this one is far more interesting! It's a Peruvian thrift store throwaway flipped inside out and stamped with the label of the promotional distro company that, most likely, sent this off to the local radio stations to enter the 1972 South American zeitgeist.

I knew about the James Brown "Hot Pants" cover. But the versions of Herbie Hancock's "Bring Down the Birds" (from the soundtrack to Blow Up as used by Deee-Lite for "Groove is in the Heart") and Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" –with its awesome drum break– are only a few of the highlights on this Long Player. It's such an interesting listen all around that i went ahead and recorded the whole damn thing for ya!

AQUI ESTA !!

Music Please

2009-11-02T14:43:00.005-05:00

This rare funk 45 by the Pleasure Web was on my list the moment i heard DJ Jock Max drop it almost a decade ago on a local radio show. When i finally found Music Man i was thrilled! But because the short and instrumental B side is so much better than the A, and because the tempo changes erratically, its not easy to play outside of a showcase format. So i created this edit and posted it on the web for your downloading pleasure:

MY PLEASURE

Party Plane

2009-10-07T17:18:00.006-04:00

In the sixties and seventies it was typical for a company to promote itself by putting out a record. It's true! Trust me, i have plenty of them. Perhaps the most famous is the "slurpee" 7", brought to light by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist in their aptly-titled comp, Brainfreeze. Escale-Party, AIR FRANCE, however, is not as well known and packs a variety of moods for you and your Mod friends to dance to while jetsetting.

VACANCES DANSANTES AUTOUR DU MONDE

Extra-Vehicular Activity

2009-09-07T20:57:00.004-04:00

This classic space funk-rock song has been sampled, re-edited, replayed over and over and over again. Yet it remains so powerful. This original seven inch cut of E.V.A. by Jean Jacques Perrey is brasil-only. Fans of funk 45s will recognize the most subtle difference in sound quality... so warm. so loud.

WALK THE TALK

After Lafter

2009-09-07T20:20:00.004-04:00

Wu Tang, spearheaded by vets Ghost Face Killah and the RZA, began their joint efforts selling their rugged first song out the back of their truck... or so the legend goes. Fans will recognize After the Laughter by Wendy Rene as the primary sample looped up. This sixties slice of soul ain't easy to find on seven inch.

TAKE STAX

Cream of the Crop

2009-09-06T23:21:00.004-04:00

This record was always on the original want list when i started my quest for samples. I first heard the Charmels' As Long As I've Got You on the Stax CD boxset at my old man's house; but the seven inch was much harder to track down. Listening to it on vinyl in my library fills my heart with emotions. God Bless Soul!

CREAM

Scholastic Rock Funk!

2009-08-11T16:13:00.004-04:00

Every seventies baby remembers Schoolhouse Rocks! from their childhood saturdays. Somewhere between the snorks and the smurfs, we'd all learn a little something that would later become invaluable. And we had a funky good time!

I guess i never realized how scratchy my copy is 'cause i usually just play the de la soul sample and the funky psych chune, little twelvetoes; and they are in fine shape.

NEVERTHELESS

Pease Porridge

2009-08-07T18:50:00.003-04:00

Some records come cheap for the digger. This one i had to subside to shelling out some scrilla for. But i've always wanted it, and now i have it. Now if only i could get those drums to sound as fat as de la soul did . . .

PASS THE PEASE

The Globetrotters Sample

2009-08-02T14:22:00.004-04:00

This is NOT from the cartoon series and it is NOT what the kids are listening to these days. Instead, it's the B-side to Sweet Georgia Brown, a song most of us have come to associate with the ball-spinning antics of the Harlem Globetrotters. This is the version of Black Eyed Susan Brown that Prince Paul slowed down and sampled for De La Soul. Note: there is a large whole 45 with the same tracks that does NOT contain the sample.

SPINNING AT 33.3RPM

The Gumtrotters

2009-08-02T14:00:00.004-04:00

Born from a cartoon television series by Hanna-Barbera, and based off the legendary showboat "basketball" team, this LP is full of bubble gum funk form the 70s. The LP comes complete with pop-up artwork.

BOUNCE PASS!

Ultra Sounds From Way Out

2009-07-27T19:28:00.003-04:00

Ha ha ha! If you liked the last post than A. you'll love this one and B. you're as crazy as I am!! Here's another release on the aptly names Ultrasound label. I promise the next post will be equally as childish, but much more rewarding. In the meantime, grab this insanity now, 'cause it's not "available everywhere."

E IS FOR ESOTERICITY

AEIOU

2009-07-27T18:54:00.004-04:00

It's the heat of summer (finally!) and the kids are out playing, not learning. It's alright. We were all kids, and the summertime was all about no-homework, sticky faces and fingers, and memories that would last forever. Let's celebrate the youth with some 5 and over funk.

E IS FOR EXPLORING

Headlessness

2009-06-29T15:28:00.003-04:00

Eugene McDaniels was a song writer who, apparently, got wrapped up in the liberation-based movements going on in the sixties and seventies. When this album came out, he was often referred to as the "Left Rev M C D," aka preacher to the psychedelic choir. His album Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse is a masterpiece of jazz-funk and message-based lyrics. When it came out, it couldn't get off the store shelf. Twenty years later, it was sampled by the hiphop community and it disappeared from the shelves only to return for a hefty three figure price- IF you can find a copy.

PASS THE WORD

Rass!

2009-06-29T15:20:00.003-04:00

Monty Alexander had a long career playing piano. You would never know he grew up in Jamaica listening to most of his albums. But this one was recorded on a trip back to the island with local guitar legend, Ernest Ranglin. For our sake, Rass!, is by far his most interesting effort. The two Al Green covers are exceptional and have been sampled by various producers from various parts of the songs.

TAKE A COPY OF MY COPY

Rare Groove Revolution (pt. 3)

2009-06-25T17:28:00.001-04:00

Finishing strong in this third and final segment of the RGR video-mix.

Think Twice

2009-06-12T17:19:00.005-04:00

The Donal Byrd catalogue from the seventies is full of goodies. This is in large part because the albums were produced by the Mizell Brothers (Skyhigh Production) who made fame with the disco classic Boogie Oogie Oogie. There is an interesting issue of Wax Poetics that features the brothers who are still around doing their thing. I had a chance to meet them at a release party and was happy to find that they were humble, soulful, intelligent musicologists. Unfortunetly, my cameraman was drunk that night.

Rather than linking the Stepping Into Tomorrow LP in full, I am providing a nice re-edit done by Prince Language on Editions Disco 12" for all you enthusiasts and serato DJs.

12" RE-EDIT

Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs

2009-06-12T14:42:00.004-04:00

Eddie Hazel was the fuzz guitar player for Parliament, aka P-Funk. Most folks know the band for their boogie beats and west coast funk bass lines provided by Bootsy Collins. But the true fans who have their albums will recognize the searing electric guitar solos that compliment the bump. In his only solo effort, Hazel covers some standards from that era in an unusually effortless psychedelic tone. Sometimes, G, D and T reminds me of Shuggie Otis's stuff.

THANGS

Dorothy's Harp

2009-06-12T13:33:00.006-04:00

Personally, I can really only listen to Afro-Harping in its entirety. But, there are plenty of beautiful, if not barmy, moments on Dorothy's Harp. As usual, Pete picked the most attractive song to sample for INI's Fackin' Jax track.

IF YOU WANT IT

The Prophet

2009-06-12T13:18:00.006-04:00

Cal Tjader has rightly been called the father of acid jazz. Indeed, his music from the sixties and seventies can easily be mistaken for the beats made in the nineties that combined hip hop rhythms and jazzy overlays. He was extremely prolific. This album is one of the harder to find LPs from that era

THE ALBUM

Rare Groove Revolution (pt. 2)

2009-06-04T15:34:00.005-04:00

This is the second video installment from my collected appearances on the Rare Groove Revolution — recombinated against a 74 minute audio mix. . . Sort of like . . watching the directors cut with commentary turned on?

The Look of Love

2009-05-18T18:32:00.004-04:00

Johnny Pate was a master orchestrator. He penned several soundtracks (eg. Shaft in Africa) along with a few albums that are soundtrackesque. His Set a Pattern LP is a work of beauty which Pete Rock, among others, easily flipped into hiphop beats. There are many versions of The Look of Love by Bacharach to hunt down, but this one is one of the best.

SAMPLE

The Shadow Do

2009-05-18T18:12:00.004-04:00

This particular Gary Bartz LP is harder to find than most - although many of them can be quite difficult to come across in your local FYE. The album may come off as a bit cheesy; but if you are cool with spiritual jazz and don't hate the sexy sax. . then you may want it.

CAN YOU DIG IT?

Windows of the Mind

2009-05-18T17:54:00.010-04:00

Perhaps one of the greatest samples of all time: Fourty Days by Billy Brooks. Used by ATCQ for Luck of Lucien, this big band jazz tune is a mega-banger. The rest of the album is of no consequence to us beatheads. But that hasn't stopped its price from soaring into the triple digits.

SAMPLE

Rare Groove Revolution (pt. 1)

2009-05-08T14:52:00.021-04:00

In a five part television series, host dj soulero invited me to unveil some of the juicy samples used by the more highly esteemed producers in the hiphop game. Each show was dedicated to a different producer: large pro, j dilla, a tribe called quest, pete rock, and dj premier. After the series aired, i mixed some of the songs together for a 74 minute best-of-the-best. Taking it one step further, i then mixed the video bits from the shows back to the audio mix and added some flashy graphics!

This is the first video segment of the 74 minute mix.