Listen to some streaming tracks, click the links below:
The Edge
The Smile

David Axelrod- The Edge: David Axelrod at Capitol Records 1966-1970

Though he worked for a series of labels over the course of his storied career, David Axelrod is best known as one of Capitol Records’ foremost producers during the company’s glory years in the 1960s. Under his production, actor David McCallum released four albums; soulster Lou Rawls released a countless number of LPs (including his first gold album, Lou Rawls Live); Cannonball Adderly released Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (1966), one of the highest selling jazz albums of all time; and countless artists from Letta Mbulu to Common People released albums that spanned the gamut from funky African folk to psychedelic rock. Axelrod himself released three albums as a solo artist on Capitol – Songs of Innocence (1968), Songs of Experience (1969), and Earth Rot (1970) – the first of which even legendary producer Quincy Jones admitted was the immediate precursor to jazz-fusion.

David Axelrod was instrumental in creating the Black Music division at Capitol Records in the mid-’60s, and had a string of hit albums with artists such as soul singer Lou Rawls and jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. Today he is best known in the hip-hop world for three albums he released on Capitol under his own name between 1968-1970. Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Earth Rot, and other ancillary Axelrod productions are among the most sampled records in hip-hop history, having been mined by producers as varied as Madlib, DJ Shadow, and Dr. Dre, Mos Def, and many others.

Original LPs that Axelrod produced are coveted among DJs and crate-diggers. This definitive retrospective is the first release to put his career in its proper context and present it with the sonic quality it merits.

Produced by Eothen “Egon” Alapatt (of Stones Throw Records)

[lucy, thanks for the hook-up]

Listen to some streaming tracks from the album, click the links below:
Bobbi Humphrey- You Make Me Feels So Good
Horace Silver- I’ve Had A Little Talk
Chico Hamilton- The Morning Side Of Love
Gene Harris- Losalamitoslatinfunklovesong

JAZZANOVA ON A BLUE NOTE TRIP
ACCLAIMED DJ/PRODUCER COLLECTIVE COMPILES BLUE NOTE MIX CD

When Blue Note Records’ Netherlands division approached Jazzanova about assembling a compilation from the storied jazz label’s rich catalog, the German DJ/producer collective was in fact surprised, not that they were asked, but rather that they had not been asked sooner. A deep jazz influence has pervaded the group’s work from the start, having first been collectors of Blue Note vinyl on their own. After having contributed to 2004’s global remix project Blue Note Revisited, the opportunity finally arose for a full-length endeavour. The result is Blue Note Trip.

The German collective consists of DJ team Jurgen von Knoblauch Stephan, Alexander Barck and Claas Brieler, and producers Axel Reinemer, Stefan Leisering and Rosko Kretschmann. Aiming to offer a broad perspective on various cultures and musical genres and melt them together, at their inception Jazzanova’s love for jazz and modern beats led to a fusion of almost every genre, from jazz to soul and from hip hop and drum & bass to Latin and boogie.

“Our name might be Jazzanova, but the DJ sets we play now are not jazz”, says Jazzanova. “It’s house, Latin, dance oriented music. This project only had one theme, old jazz music, that was new for us, but also old. Because that’s how we started, by playing old jazz records. Since then we’ve developed. But by going back, we’ve made another step forward.”

Jazzanova always respects the original artist, something that has earned them a lot of respect as well. “We haven’t changed the original songs, we respect them too much, but the song selection and the way we blend them together is typical Jazzanova style. We’ve tried to create a real ‘trip.’ A lot of young people find jazz heavy and difficult, we try to open the door to the world of jazz by an accessible compilation. We’ve chosen to use mainly songs that haven’t been in the spotlight as much, although artists like Horace Silver and Gene Harris are included.”

The mix features selections from all corners of the storied Blue Note catalog, songs from the 50s (Ken Dorham’s “Afrodisia”), 60s (Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage”), and 70s (Donald Byrd’s “Think Twice”), both instrumental (Freddie Hubbard’s “Blue Spirits”) and vocal (Sheila Jordan’s “Baltimore Oriole”), both popular (Horace Silver’s “Señor Blues”) and more obscure (Charlie Rouse’s “Merci Bon Dieu”).

“It’s important to really create a Jazzanova moment, the way the tunes are connected, songs that would normally not fit together but to create a point of energy where two worlds collide, like mixing a ballad with a Latin song, with the right harmony or timing it’s possible.”

Blue Note has been watching Jazzanova closely and considered them to be the ideal group to compile and mix the new Blue Note Trip. A case of perfect timing as well for Jazzanova. “To ask Jazzanova to make a Blue Note compilation is like bringing sand to the beach. That’s what we do, and what we like to do. Blue Note is for us the most influential jazz label. We already had a huge collection of Blue Note records, with interesting compositions and inspiring material,” says Jazzanova.

“When they asked us to make this Trip, we already had it in ourselves. It was all about the selection. That was the easy part. The real challenge was trying to fit them together, the mixing of the songs. That wasn’t so easy. But it was a lot of fun and a big honor to do this on the Blue Note label.”

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