Returning from holiday to overflowing rss feeds in bloglines has reminded me of the need to pursue simplicity and avoid unnecessary distractions as much as I’m able (which isn’t very, if the truth be told).
I’ve started to deleting blogs I don’t read that often and am trying to be much more selective about things I subscribe too.

It probably won’t happen, but I think post-holiday resolutions should generally be encouraged (except the ones about never going back to work of course) Thankfully as part of the hl family I have constant 24 hour global backup against ‘missing’ any music that could otherwise slip beneath my wide and deep musical radar.

The great thing about having a collective is that you don’t have to cover all the bases yourself. Every now and then one of the gang stumbles across something you have been after for a while and sends it your way and all is well with the world.

Today, it was the ever beautiful jb with this little nugget from blue note’s ‘hope for the hiphop generation’ Robert Glasper. Generally (for which you can read always) I tend to give jazz/hip hop a really wide berth, but the idea of someone re-interpreting the dilla aesthetic within a jazz context sounded really interesting.

And so it is.

Clocking in at a concise 4:28 the track borrows stylistically from dilla, coming the form of a mini-montage (complete with tired but generic answer-phone intro) of two tracks, one live/one recorded. Both sections sound amazing, hinting at something really fresh without ever really developing the ideas too much. (maybe a nod to dilla there as well) The second part is a cover of Ahmad Jamal’s majestic Swahililand, used by dilla on the seminal de la track ’stakes is high’, and something I will never get tired of .

All in all it’s a great piece-’bout time jazz started looking forward again.

*update* thanks to cubikmusic for pointing to this interview with Mr Glasper which puts his work in a bit of context and has soundclips for loads more of the album.

The more I hear this guy the more he seems like the real deal.-able to bring so many different influences to bear on his work (just like any decent post modern jazzer should)-the Maiden Voyage/Everything is in it Right Place track is particularly worth a listen.

Robert Glasper-J Dillude

*update2* damn it!-just seen those upfront mothers at analog giant posted this sucka last week, so here is the ace, if very E.S.T.-y sounding, radiohead/herbie track I was talking ’bout instead.

Enjoy

Robert Glasper-Maiden Voyage/Everything is in it Right Place