To Jazzanova: Please invade my local radio stations immediat
debonair | 3rd Rock, Milky Way | 08/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Hand this one to your music-lover friends(especially the hipster set) who need a gentle but rigorous introduction to modern Jazz(minus the Fusion). If they truly love music and this does not move them, then they are beyond redemption. :-) I have all the other Blue Note Trips. This one is my hands-down favorite, a veritable tour-de-force of Jazz, showcasing its symbiotic relationshop with Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Pop Music as well as Hip-Hop. No fear. The few hip-hop cuts on this set are nowhere near the type of dreck playing on pop radio. My jaw dropped when I heard some of these cuts, from the poignant "Three is a Magic Number" to the triumphant "O Passarinho Cantou" to the mesmerizing "Sanfona". This is from an era when musicians and the music industry still loved music. I can't imagine any of these songs getting airplay on the "Top 40" pop stations. The sophistication is prominent on every single song, from the singing to the instrumentation to the lush arrangements, on and on. The mixing is solid and each song transitions smoothly into the next. Jazzanova really stepped up its game compared to the last Blue Note Trip it mixed. After listening to this, with the more eclectic mix of songs, you'll see from whence Jazzanova gets its love of Jazz. This one is even better than the 4Hero LifeStyles mix. I can't recommend this enough. Buying this cd was my way of telling the music industry with my dollars what I would prefer to hear. If you can, please do the same.
The only complaint I have with this set is that 2 of the songs from Blue Note Trip:Saturday Night/Sunday Morning are repeated here. The songs are Marlena Shaw's version of "Save the Children" and A Taste of Honey's "I Love You". While these songs are both excellent, it's very annoying that no one in the Blue Note production chain checked for dupes with Maestro's previous mixes of this series. It's like being cheated out of 2 cool songs because of the repeats."
Nice, but not jazz...
Romu | Miami, FL | 11/18/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It's a great compilation, just like anything jazzanova does. But don't expect this to be as jazzy as their first blue note trip. This goes into electro-jazz, hip-hop, R&B, funk... all genres highly influenced by jazz, but are not jazz per se."
Retro smooth-funky-jazzy spun together by the magic that is
m.prudhomme | cali | 11/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Wow, what a collection. I bought this sort of on a dare - since I tend to love all the Jazzanova stuff - and found it just get's better the more I listen to it. Some of the "smashed stuff" I just could never listen too, but I did rip 16 wonderful tracks to my iPod and these are just fabulous.
The flow from Betty Carter's smooth retro "Open the Door" into jazzy, into funky, into really funky Dayton's "The Sound of Music" finally mellows back down into a smooth and delectable "For you and I", from the scrambled side; and I kept six of these funky-jazzy and all mixed up, well smashed up, fun tracks.
I love lounge - and all the blues, tango, piano, sax, reggae... type of influences - but it can be quite a challenge to get exciting variety. I rate this one of my top 3."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1