Jazz Connexion 5/9/10

Back in high school, when I began listening to jazz music, my friends were all getting into hip hop. They were introducing me to A Tribe Called Quest, KRS One, and the whole Rhymesayers Crew. As I listened to more and more jazz in my free time, and more and more hip hop with my friends, I was unable to separate the two in my mind. Jazz was teeming with the beat heavy elements of hip hop, and it seemed like every decent hip hop song was based around cuts from classic jazz albums. I soon came to the conclusion that the two truly were inseparable, and that when you combined the two, the spoken word art that dominated hip hop was nothing more than another instrument added to the color of the jazz combo, at least in the hip hop that I enjoyed. This was never better exemplified than when I discovered Guru and MC Solaar's side project Jazzmatazz (see above). Tonight's program was focused around my continuing obession with this relationship betweent the two artforms and the continuing developments in this unique media. As hip hop continues to utilize jazz samples, jazz as an artform becomes more and more centered on the beat heavy hip hop style. Last week we heard from Robert Glasper, one of the first Blue Noter's to dive into this burgeoning genre. Here is the playlist for the program.

1. Tribeca Sound - Pride
2. MC Solaar - Caroline
3. Ronny Jordan - My Favorite Things
4. The RH Factor - Poetry feat. Q-Tip
5. Astrud Gilberto - The Gentle Rain (RJD2 Remix)
6. Gang Starr - Manifest**
7. Guru - Street Soul - Lift Your Fist (w/ The Roots)**
8. Guru - Street Soul - Timeless (w/ Herbie Hancock)**
9. Ella Fitzgerald - I Get A Kick Out Of You (Cinematic Orchestra Cover)
10. St. Germain - Tourist - Land of...
**RIP Keith "Guru" Elam

RIYL's:
A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Robert Glasper - Double Booked
The RH Factor - Hard Groove
St. Germain - Tourist
Madlib - Shades of Blue