I'm Adam Maness, and I'm Peter Martin, and you're listening to the You'll Hear It podcast. Music explored. Explored, brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to openstudiojazz.com for all your jazz lesson needs. Peter. Real quick, did you know that we're up for two major awards?
You know what I heard about this? Now define major. Could you define it in a monetary fashion?
I think we might get, like, a lamp in the shape of a leg for a major award. Remember that from A Christmas story? Ralphie and the dad gets the lamp in the. Okay. Anyway, more on that later. In fact, there might be a gala involved.
Because of the podcast, you mean? Yeah, but just because of our general humanity. Contributions to humanity. Because we've got one coming for that, too.
Well, I know that. No, you're up for a Nobel, but no, the Nobel thing. Nobel, the the podcast is up for a couple of awards, which we'll talk about at the end of the show. So stick around for that.
Yeah. Yeah. Might be associated with the GALA.
It will definitely be associated. Yeah.
All right. Yeah. Well today can we talk about what we're going to do today because and then I want to set the scene. I'm going to take you back inside. Are you ready to get in a time machine?
Yes, I am, but first I have a question for you. Is it a big day?
It is. It's a big day. It's a big day. Well, I thought your question was going to be. What is that? I'm holding my hand because I usually have an LP. I don't know if you remember what this is.
I know exactly what that is, but I did. I'm back in the CDs. If I told you this. No. I bought for my car. Yeah, a 50 CD carrier, old school style fits right in there.
And I buy a brand new car. No.
Yeah, definitely. This is it. Well, no. Okay. But they still come with CDs. But, No, no, I'm starting to get into, like, buying you CDs.
Yeah, you can buy.
Great CDs for, like, five bucks.
Four bucks? I know I got this, I have a friend online named Jeff Bezos, and he's gifted me a prime account, and so I can just like the next day, a CD. How personal friendship I have. I'll hook you up if you know.
I mean, I'm just a little bit more in touch with my community. So I go down to I know, I know, I do.
That to get this vinyl shot of vintage vinyl. But.
Yeah, I love a CD, but like, can I say they sound awesome? And I'm just I'm on a little break from my phone right now. I know there's no more phones here. I just got to get off.
I'm definitely off that. But I'm actually like, I think we're I love we we love LPs. I mean, if if for sure if there was an avatar or if there was like a, a doll or, what do you call a pet associated with this podcast? It would be an LP. True, that we could bring around on a leash, but are we fetishizing LPs a little too much in our culture now?
Perhaps.
Perhaps, yeah. And also, you know, this is from what year was this album from 2003, 2003. There weren't a lot of LPs, and.
All this did in fact come out on LP. And so a couple years ago as like a, it might come out in 2023 as like a 20 year anniversary. It did not come out on LP, came out on CD. That's right. And it was in that sweet spot early 2000s. I think you remember that.
To.
Where CD like where there wasn't really I mean, there was streaming, I guess there was like Napster kind.
Of I mean, there is not really stream it.
Yeah. And it was like the.
ITunes store maybe like just barely.
Yeah, yeah. But I mean, CD was still the thing. And so this is the OG form factor, as we like to say. And this is none other than the RH factor, hard.
Groove. One more thing on CDs before we get off of it. Okay. Just so in case they want.
My big introduction. Thanks a lot, buddy.
Well, no, no, no, in case the kids don't know it, when you were a musician, you used to be able to carry these things around with you. Oh, yes. And you could sell them at your shows. Yes. And you could sell them at actual record stores. A record store was a place where you would go and you would, spend $60 on three albums.
Yeah. And, and hopefully people would buy one of your albums and then you would get paid, like.
Pretty good money, right? Fun fact. We did a gig. This must have been like 1992. Tower Records, New Orleans on South Peter Street, in New Orleans in the French Quarter, great old big old Tower Records, Brian Blade, Chris Thomas and myself. I did a trio gig. I don't know why we were doing it. I mean, they used to have gigs in there.
Yeah, they.
Used to have people come play.
Yeah, but part of the deal was like, we didn't get paid, but they were like, just go get whatever CDs you want. Come on. As much as you can fit into a bag. The manager, the general manager, they're amazing. And so we went and just like, had their things filled up. I was getting like box. I think they rejected that.
But it was like a Riverside monk box said. They're like, no, no, it was like $400. They can't do that. But I was like, it fits in the back. But it was a that the halcyon halcyon days. Halcyon House, House Halsted. Yeah.
You must think it.
Was a good time. Yeah.
Man. So with 2003. Holy hell, what a year for music.
It was a great year, man. But we don't talk about that enough. You know why? Because we're stuck on 1971. Well, yeah, I think 2003 is about to be our new 1971.
Right. You could spend a lot of time in 2003, but it is.
And I love like having this form factor. This is Roy Hargrove. The RH factor in fact, was the name of his newly formed band at the time, Roy Hargrove presents the RH factor Hard Groove. This was such a cool record. Especially for like, young people, I think younger than me. And maybe even younger than you at that time.
Super influential. I would almost say that this might have been for a generation, like for my generation, where like, black holes from the underground maybe, I suppose because of my connection with Kenny Kirkland and stuff like that had that kind of a meaning. But, it was, oh, look at this, man.
It's so great. Look at that. No, that's another great part about you.
Can't find a lot of this information, as in, who's playing on every track on the internet. You have to get this.
It's pretty awesome. So let me talking.
About all let.
Me ask you a question. Where were you at in 2003? What were you doing, man?
Dude, I was so stuck. Hard core jazz. Wasn't that I actually I wasn't I mean, I was doing like, really heavy touring during that time. Yeah. And in fact, I was going back in my notes and I realized in 2003, I actually did a gig with Roy Hargrove. The same summer that he premiered this band. After this record came out, he was a special guest with Dianne Reeves at Jazz Baltica in in Germany, I believe was in Hamburg, Germany, somewhere up there in northern Germany.
I remember we did this wonderful gate with Roy Hargrove. He was special because I was touring with Tantra question, touring with Dianne Reeves heavy that year. Yeah. And Roy was a special guest with Dianne Jazz Baltica in Germany. Vince Mendoza did some beautiful arrangements.
I did a couple of arrangements. We had an orchestra. But I still remember. I believe it might even be on YouTube. We'll link to it if it's out there. He played, You Go to My Head.
With.
Dianne, with the whole band. James Genius was on bass.
Nothing better than Roy playing.
Oh, my God, behind Dianne singing and stuff. So.
And also, by the way, you said Vince Mendoza wrote some beautiful arrangements. Yeah, I think Vince Mendoza only writes beautiful. Yeah, I.
Should have said Vince did some of his regular arrangements.
Because they're all good.
Yeah, yeah, it was good. But. So yeah, that was sort of 2000. But I want to just, Where were you in 2003? I'm sorry, 2000.
I was I was still living in New York. And I was making a great block.
As Deborah Harry.
But saying blacks. Deborah Harry. Actually, no. At this point, I was living up in Washington Heights. Right. And, making a go of it up there and just had started working with the singer Erin Bode, who was based back here in Saint Louis, which I would eventually, later than that year, late in the year, moved back here. But I was this is actually kind of right in my wheelhouse, man, because that was 22 years old.
Yeah. And I remember when this album came out, it was a big deal. It was a big deal, too, because it's kind of a hit. Like it was a. Yeah, it was on.
The Billboard pop chart. Like what I but I mean.
It's still any jazz record that makes the Billboard charts is a good thing for us. Yeah. And I just remember to like, you know, voodoo was on everybody's ears, right? All those common albums were on everybody's ears. Roy was already, you know, this crossover artist for all of us who was like, you know, into this, you know, the Electric Lady scene.
This is like our jazz ambassador to the hip hop world, for sure.
And a and a young Robert Glass would be starting to dip his toes into that scene, too. But I just remember, like, when this came out, it was like, oh, this makes sense. Like, now they're coming over to our side of things. They're like all these artists who we've heard on D'Angelo's records, on Common's records, on Erykah Badu's records.
Yeah. Now they're here on this Verve jazz album. This is amazing.
Yeah. And I mean, maybe I'll sprinkle this in some stories as I remember them as we listen to this great record here in a second. But I remember going back to even like when I was playing in Rogers band to, 94, 95 and then a little bit beyond that. But those are like the heavy years, like he was already talking about.
And by talking about he didn't talk a lot of talk with his trumpet. And we had a few discussions about doing this kind of project. And like, actually, I realized we were testing some of this material back then, especially a couple gigs we did in Paris at like, this discotheque. That's how they say discotheque.
Do their friends, their voice go up like la discotheque?
Sorry. But, like, we kind of got in there and, like, people weren't really wanting jazz, and Roy just started calling, like, parliament tunes and different things. And, like, I started to see his conception of, like, how you could approach groove oriented music without it being shtick. Right? Without like, with a kind of authenticity that I think put the.
Big two on it.
Yeah. Not like let's jazz it up, you know?
Yeah.
And so that was really fun for me to kind of go back and reverse engineer and kind of see where this came from.
Can I say something to just as a 90s jazz kid, see this little thing right here.
Verve Records this little.
Thing that says Verve. Yeah. In the 90s, that meant it was probably gonna be pretty good.
Like, I'm pretty straight.
Ahead and pretty sure that I remember.
That Verve forecast, which is more.
Than a little bit more like progressive, but Verve in the 90s and the early 2000 was really good.
Also in the 50s.
Also in the 50s, they were doing all these great reissues and they were.
Doing Shirley Horn and.
All, and they were also bringing up new artists. McBride. Yeah, there was a ton of good.
Nicholas Payton yeah, I mean, they were the they I mean, there was Blue Note, of course, for sure, but Verve was he was right up there with them. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. And Roy had been on Verve I believe, since when he was like 19 when he first came up to New York. I think he was at Berkeley briefly, maybe, but anyway, by the time he's here.
So Roy is this is 2003. So he's like 34. You know, he's seasoned, well-seasoned, even beyond your normal kind of early 30s players because he'd been playing so long.
Since as a teenager.
Since the teenager touring so much, had so many different experiences, play with so many different great artists. It was just so damn good, basically, to be honest, you know? So anyway, just in case, that was great. Let's so just a further place, especially for the youngins or the oldies that might not remember precisely 2003, these were some big records that I was thinking about and found just to sort of place us back during that time period, did either have like some jazz or hip hop or some cross-pollination.
First, we've got this. Let's get that sound.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Oh, oh. It's great place to play with each of them. I met a lot before, so that's J.
Live, which is, collaboration with Madlib and J Dilla. Unfortunately, that's a killer.
Record. Unbelievable.
And then, of course, Jay Dale is going to come up as an influence with a lot of this stuff in a connection with a lot of this music. But, I mean, a lot of people look back and, like, Roy's the one who first fuzed, you know, hip hop and jazz. He was far from the first.
He's seen definitely as an ambassador, for sure. But I just wanted to shout out this this was in 2003 as well from Russell Gunn. He Saint Louis is finest. Ethnomusicology volume three.
But nope nope nope nope nope nope. Don't separate. It's just so good. Yeah. Russell Gunn.
Underrated. Yes, I'm sure he's doing a lot of great things in that time. And then also this was a huge record in 2003. This is Mad Libs blown out when they gave him the archives. This is decent land by Donald Bird for for from shades of blue.
Because a lot of this kind of sound.
Unknown
Was on their own.
Unknown
It's got to be an old LP.
Yeah. I'm such a sucker for this.
Yeah. Oh, God. Look at the club after this. That was kind of club.
My wheelhouse had a wheelhouse.
But also in 2003, we're going to go a little different direction. But talk about influential.
Of course. Yeah, yeah. Oh come on me. Oh okay. What do I look like? 46 year old white jazz musician. Come on.
But I mean, like, we forget this was like, people were like what? Like, this was influential super, super early. And also 2002.
Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. He said. Samuel. Yeah. Yeah.
Sam. Yeah. Hell yeah. This is Joshua Redman. Elastic band for the first record, Jazz Crimes.
This was this was a criminal offense in some states.
Yeah.
That played before. Oh, yeah. Before we get too far, though, I just want to give, Russell Gunn some flowers because I feel like we've never really talked about him, and that's we. I'm so glad you did. If you don't know, Russell Gunn's music goal is in Russell Gunn's music. He's still making great music, and I think he's probably, one of the best musicians of his generation.
Even if you haven't checked it out much of his stuff, it is worth your time to go.
Absolutely. Yeah. And came out of the Lincoln High School jazz, program at this exact same time. I was in the U. City high school program, and we were always very envious because, like, we had the two best bands in town, but we always kind of got our asses kicked by them because they were so good during that time.
They had so many great players, for sure, led by Russell, in fact, of course.
And another one actually we're gonna hear on Hargrove.
Yes. Yeah, exactly. Okay. And I just want to play one more thing before we jump into, Hargrove. That was happening. And this is Roy in 2002. So this is just for you to understand. Like, this was not like Roy had his feet in a lot of different places. This was a record that came out that was very influential.
2002.
Oh, wait, what is this.
Live in Massey Hall directions in music. Oh, I played.
Roy Hargrove. Yeah, Herbie Hancock, Mike Brecker. Yeah, yeah, yeah, John Patrick. Oh, wow. Man, Roy was at the top of his form for this thing.
Well, I mean, everybody in this band. Yeah.
Yeah. So that's what Roy, that was the record. You know, they came out right before this record. So that's where he's come in.
We used to be a real country. Listen to that. Good. Great.
That's a great record. Maybe we should maybe cover that with some time. Yeah.
That would be awesome.
That was. It's interesting because I knew the record. I saw that band play live a couple times when the record came out. They did a fantastic tour. They played here. Powell I didn't hear that because I wasn't here then, but it's like they that was a great I mean, Mike Brecker and Roy Hargrove, that was I was like one of those like front lines where you're like, well, that'll probably work.
And if it does, it's going to be incredible. It was incredible.
Well and and then the rhythm section to just everybody's first chair. Yeah, yeah.
Essentially I mean the pianist. Yeah. Well I mean Herbie was available so. Yeah. Anyway. All right so should we I'll just give you a little bit of background.
He's kidding. Herbie, by the way. That's a joke.
Roy Hargrove. I think his story is it's generally known he started playing trouble when he was nine. From a cornet, actually, that his father used to have. He was apparently just, like, super dedicated from, like, a young age and just like he had the musical aptitude, but he also just had, like, this drive and this, this sort of will to practice that was legendary, to practice in the closet because his mom would be like, it's getting too loud.
Why don't you stop for a minute? And then he go in the closet, just practice for hours while he was one of those kind of, and, you know, new piano, you know, a bunch of instruments, kind of a savant in terms of, not only his, his, abilities, but his work ethic. You know, I very much saw that when I was around him.
I mean, it was. I mean, you need both. Yeah, you need both. You need extreme talent, and then you need the right personality. Who can cultivate the most out of that talent? Right? It's always those guys.
And then he went to, Dallas Arts Magnet, which was a legendary school similar to Lincoln High School here that produced a number of great musicians, some of which we're going to hear, like Erykah Badu on this record. Norah Jones, I believe. No, that was Houston. That's another legendary school. Was that Dallas? I think it was those doubts.
Yeah. Number of great musicians from that school. And.
Can you imagine that? I mean, just those three names from the same place. I know.
I know, I know, and interestingly, like, so right around this time when he was there, it's looking here when he met Wynton Marsalis, when he was in high school, what Wynton used to do during this time. So like Roy and I, I think Roy was one year ahead of me, in school and somehow ten years ahead of me in terms of, like, after musical aptitude.
I did figure that out later, too. But at the same time and he, I went to a really good university shout out University City High School, great band program. The lions. Yeah. Go Lions were the Indians at the time, but that was rectified. Yeah. But Wynton would travel around, was touring heavy classical. He came here and played Saint Louis Symphony, and that's when I first met him through my dad, who was playing with him.
But, you know, people don't understand. Like in the 80s, there was no internet, okay? There wasn't little Adam did you probably never had a life without an internet, did you? Of course I did. Oh you did. Yeah. Oh. Fax machine?
Yeah. Machine. When you were a kid. We live in Harwich, man. We were lucky if we got a telephone on, honestly.
But like in the 80s, Wynton was like the internet, the jazz, he really was. He was this connector because he was traveling around and not only would he do gigs and when was young that he was in his like mid 20s or whatever. Yeah. And but he would go around like he would call around or have his manager say what high schools want me to come.
I want to do a clinic for free. And so like he came to our school, he went to Lincoln High School and he went to Dallas, Arts Magnet. And that's when he first met Roy, when he was in high school. And of course, was like, okay, this dude can play. Yeah. But like, Wynton was going around and identifying players and then connecting us.
So the way I met Roy Hargrove was Wynton said, when he give me his number, I made you. You ever have any questions about anything? So that was like dialing up on the internet to like, how can I meet other jazz musicians?
So he literally gave you Roy Hargrove number?
No, he gave me his number 101 number. Okay. And then, I was talking to him one time and he said, hey, man, you need to look out. He would tell me different people. He's like, there's this guy, Christian McBride. You're going to be hearing about him.
Christian. You were like, ever heard of him?
Yeah, I was like, no, I've never heard him. He's like, but he was a couple of years younger. He's like, he's 14 years old. I just heard him in Philly. He's killing. I was like, wow. I'm like, I used to write these names now because I was like, you know, I was like, and I remember he said, and Roy Hargrove, you know, I was like, no.
And I wrote, I remember writing that name down, and he's like, He's in Dallas and he's like, he's killin trumpet player. And so that's all I knew was like, Roy Hargrove, our high school band, when I was a junior, you know, when I was a sophomore, I think Roy was a junior. We went to the new convention in Dallas.
Shout out jazz.
Education. Yeah, formerly. Well, now it's called the I know. Then it was the IHG and now it's the GenCon for the GenCon. Yeah. You know, they invite different high school bands basically if you pay the application fee. We took a bus overnight like one of those academy busses. Yeah. And got there and it was like at the convention center by the Dallas Fort Worth airport.
We weren't even in Dallas.
Welcome to the ballroom. But yeah, yeah, we were jazz in a ballroom.
Yeah. We're like four people per room at, like, the Marriott Airport. Merritt. And so I remember I had Roy Rogers and I was like, I got to find this guy, Roy Hargrove, and I kind of asked around and I looked on the schedule and I saw this thing Dallas Arts Magnet High School band was going to be playing at this time.
I was like, maybe he's probably going to be there. And so I went over and I saw the band. I heard this one guy that was just like, kill it. He was playing lead, but he was also coming out and doing.
All the solos.
But he looked like this little kid. I think he was actually, yeah, a year ahead of me. But he looked really young. That. And I was like, damn, he's small too, you know, or average size, as I say, we would be great, but you here hold up. I like doing these shows at 10:00 at night. This is fun.
So, I went over to him after the thing. I was like, are you Roy Hargrove? And he's like, yeah. I said, hey, I'm Peter Martin. Like, this was kind of actually what was really bold for me at the time, because that's the only way you could be sure. And he was like, oh, Peter Martin. He's like, Wynton Marsalis told me about you.
I was like, wait, wait. Marsalis told me about you crazy. And so like, that was the connector, you know? And that's when I met him. We kind of kept in touch, and then he kind of went on to big things. And then, you know, we once we were up in New York at the same time, asked me to join his band and stuff.
But like, Wynton was a really and and then when the internet came, we didn't even anymore.
I mean, yeah, I was going to say like, Instagram solved that. Yeah. This is today. You both would have like, massive Instagram followings as teenagers. And I'd be like, Roy, definitely making some like shorts and prodigious shorts or whatever, and following each other, you know. Yeah.
But yeah. So Wynton was playing, at the Caravan of Dreams. This is performing arts. It was not a it was a club there. It was a club there and in Fort Worth. And he invited Roy after he heard him that day to school, and he came and sat him with him. Were you 17? And then it was kind of off to the races.
Marsalis played the venue few times in high school. And then he also played with, with Dizzy and Herbie. Yeah, he was still around. So like, when was it the only one that took note of Roy? He was a little bit of a minor superstar by the time he left and went up to, Berklee. And as we mentioned, he went to high school with Eric Badu was a couple of years behind her.
So she's going to she said a really nice quote he always wanted to read. She said Roy was the first person I met in high school. He in the musical department and jazz band me in dance right next door. We danced to that band's version of John Coltrane, Miles Davis. That helped me understand what jazz was and how to interpret it.
It was a subtle rebellion.
So, yeah, I mean, I love everything I do, says, man, she's just she's enchanting.
He really is. Yeah, yeah. I mean, she's a vibe. She's. And I have the feeling she was a vibe back then.
Every time I see her, I feel like I've just been to church or something, you know? Yeah.
Yeah. For sure. Okay. So then Roy goes on, makes all these great records for Verve, mostly really kind of the straight ahead vein, although we're gonna have a little Easter egg at the end. He had some, some, some groove and kind of hip hop forays much earlier than this. But I think to most people it was really the year 2000 that people outside of like the hardcore jazz world, outside of like musicians, jazz or classical or hip hop probably, or R&B would have known about him.
But like to the general, the GP, the general population. Roy probably, I mean, as much as playing a bunch of hip porn lines in the background, you can get on people's radar. But these were some big records. Yeah, as part of huge records. Yeah. Three records in particular do I have I've got just some little excerpts from two of them because we're gonna get to the actual record, don't worry.
But the biggest of which was, of course, and we've covered here before, D'Angelo's voodoo, which came out in 2000. Roy's all over this record. This is a little bit from player. Player. Oh, my.
Oh, my.
So those lines that Roy did, layering them piece by piece, writing them, you know, we could listen to that stuff all day. We're going to, became legendary and, like, he was known for being like, you hear the track and be like, okay, I know what I'm going to add. Let me do A11 pass at a time.
And he would just knock them out. Knock them out like a choir. You know, he was doing it like he was layering vocals or something. And with the rhythms he's arranging it on the spot, you know. So he had obviously the jazz chops. We heard him play with Herbie. I played with him before and I'd heard it every night and was like, wow.
But he had this a an uncanny ability without but like changing really who he was or his musicality of being able to jump into this world with these different vibes and just put the placement with a trumpet, you know, in a way that's just uncanny. Roy.
And at this time, speaking of like the choir effect, he and Nicholas Payton on Joshua Edmunds, you played that elastic band. Yeah. Album like Nicholas Payton does that on a couple of tracks. I think on the second one, second elastic.
Band. Yeah, right. The second record. Yep.
Unbelievable. Yeah, just both of them. So good at that.
Yeah. They were like, you know, brothers in in trumpet arranging artistry across genre. They always have been, you know, kind of separately but in their own sort of similar ways. That's super interesting. The other thing this was from Common's like Water for chocolate 2000 as well, you know, part of the whole so-called soul Aquarian situation. But this is just a little bit of, like, cold logic.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh.
Yeah. That's right.
Trumpet.
Unknown
Me back there.
I mean, Peter, if you think that this doesn't have anything to do.
If you think that this doesn't have anything to do with 1971, you're out of your mind.
Yeah, because we we love it. No, but.
But it's all over this music. I know we're probably going to hear a little bit of of, Funkadelic later. Yeah. But, like, you can hear it. Everything you played so far, it's. Yeah. Has that early 70s, mid 70s, James Brown. Yeah. Funkadelic. Parliament. Yeah. Sly and the family Stone. Yep. All of it is in there. Marvin.
Yeah. I mean, it's that. Yeah, it's all there. I mean, that's the influences that these artists were listening to and rising like with his ability like to know the placement, the arrangement, the writing, you know, so great.
So basically we're back to 1971. So it's one.
So let's listen to a little I was going to play. We're going to get into the back to talking about Wynton and sort of coming out of really the hardcore jazz. We gotta listen to some of this record. We're gonna start with the first track called Heart Groove.
Much as voodoo, it's kind of just very colloquially slides in in,
Cornell Dupree on the guitar.
Yeah. The legend.
Both guitarists on this album might steal it.
A little bit. And who?
So it's Reggie Washington and Pino Palladino on bass. I think that first name thing was Reggie. I don't know how it's broken up, but Jason Thomas on drums, killing it.
Back.
Across thick and full. Effective. Yeah.
Unknown
Half.
This is a he's in their way into this record. It's black. Chris Davis. Was that.
Unknown
The whole time I.
Was about to say who's playing? I open up the CD. Yeah. That's, Yeah. Keith Anderson on alto. Josh Schwartz parts on tenor, Bobby Sparks of Clap.
Yeah. So the thing that I think is super interesting about this track.
I mean, no. Okay. Do what you need to do, man. That feels great.
It doesn't feel great. Like this is a very patient opening to this record.
It just it invites you to live in there for a while.
It does. And this is a long record. We're going to probably talk about that a little bit.
Yeah, it is long.
And so that's why it kind of starts to make sense. Why it's such a patient measured beginning. Because like this is not the most banging. It's I mean it's banging, but it's not the most like banging in this of the first track. We're going to get to that.
You know what is in here a little bit. I don't know if this is intentional, but there's a little bitches brew in this too. Yeah, you know what I mean. There's a.
Little line on this and there's a couple tracks.
Where like Bitches Brew, which we got to do, bitches, we got to for it. But, albums like that, we're going, like, this is just. Yeah, just for albums like, you can't have like, Bitches Ruin albums like Ha groove. Just invite you to like, oh, you want something to. You want me to tell you a story real quick?
Like a real tight story. It's not going to happen. No. You need to settle in. You might smoke a little something and just, like, sit down on the couch, right. And just get ready to just get your mind blown a little bit.
But you mean light up a little incense for whatever we're.
Gonna we're going to take our time, is what we're saying. Like we're just going to vibe for a second here. Yeah. And it's once you lock into that and there's nothing better, there's nothing better because it slows you, sort of slows your whole body down. And you just you're not like you're not waiting for like the next killin woo moment.
You know, you're just like in the zone. You're in the pocket with the absolutely incredible.
Absolutely. So we're going to listen now to the second track. We're not going to get to every track I apologize. There's like 74 tracks on here. And apparently he left off like 17 that he couldn't fit on. It's a long.
Record. It's already like an hour and 20 minutes.
But he had some amazing guests on here. We played some from Common's 2000 release Like Water for Chocolate earlier, but Common is featured. I think this was kind of like the biggest. Well, I guess the Erykah we're going to get to as well. This was the one that, like, really got a lot of people's radar.
All the vocal features on here are so well done. So well done. I don't mean nothing but like knockouts to. Yeah.
And so this is common on common freestyle feature.
This is cool. This is really Jones third actually on drums. Bringing the.
Bass.
On Reggie Washington on bass.
Kenny Washington's brother, by the way. Yeah. That's great composer. He's, classic Roy right there. I'm.
Well, James poisoned go down is maybe one of the most influential keys, players and bass.
Right.
What can I do? I feel that he's always.
At the right. The right time.
You see up here.
It's funny how that keeps happening.
I execute like a guy.
Yeah, I guess so. Still like that to nuts. What's going on all time?
I started to.
Copy my own spot. Oh my God. But we say call in the go. The brother promises never stop the flow of flow. Keep going man on that on. And I like to do because of the in the. And I'm not the type to be like that. But when it comes to the empire your strike back. Yo I like bad rap.
I might be that types. What can I do? I like spit on the grave. But those who never been a slave don't understand that rhythmic overlay commonly seen by the crowd. Says to be dope. Asked about the dress, they asked about the flow. This was the life, brother Questlove. This is what I do. I still just love the many for the thoughts.
Brother conscious yo, I'm never taking you to. I can't do it just with my crew, with a little cheese and a little bit of blueberry chill. It just can't feel. Brother Jake, boys on the keys. He's on the keys. They want to freeze when they see the brother. Come. Says go against the yo. We got a sister. But we can break it down for Roy to park.
Come on, you know this. You know everything boys doing here. It actually kind of reminds me a little bit of, like, all D'Angelo's backing vocals on Chicken Grease. I know we're always on the two, but, like, I'm seeing a pattern here. All of those D'Angelo like improvs and also the BVS that he puts in the layers throughout about voodoo, right?
And actually all three of his latest records. But like there's they just they just add these like, oh, this perfect tapestry of melody. And Roy we talked about this on voodoo actually like Roy is one of the greatest melody. Yeah. Of all time. Yeah. Like he could have been like a Tin Pan Alley songwriter. He's so crafty with his melodies.
Like, they're not just like, it feels good or whatever. Like, they're well composed. Yes. As he's improvising. Yeah.
This is incredible. As he moves along, like answering. Dude, I'm glad you said Tin Pan Alley, because the last track we're gonna listen to, I got a direct connection to. Right. Since you're talking about what he just did on this, let's just check out a little bit of.
A.
Simple right, phrasing.
Blues.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then when you check it out with. Check this out. Just with the drums.
Like, you see.
Wonder what? What's going on like that? I start to carve in my own spot. I may or may not. But we say called in the go. The brother comma says never stop with a flow. My flow keeps going on and on. And I like to do it because at the in the pause. And I'm not trying to be like.
That noise given all the rhythm.
There. Yeah, well strike back yo, I like that. That might be, that might be the fucking I do I like spit on the grave. But those who never been slave don't understand about the things they misbehave. When they see the brother closest to the dough. Ask about the dress. They ask about the flow. They ask about this request, this question.
Like brother Questlove, this is what I do. I possess love of many thoughts. Brother confess, Joe. I'm never take it choice.
I'm sorry this era of hip hop to with a love. This is like ten year stretch.
I got golden age.
I'm in the mix here.
Like is on the keys.
Unbelievable. All I'm not when they see this. Yeah, it's definitely old man. Uncle song is going on right now but like man come on. It's so fucking good. Oh but they. Oh what like all those the top level rappers at that time.
Oh man. The way he voices those fourths and thirds, that's all trumpet.
I also love like free.
So I emcee some call me.
Like Roy, obviously no stranger to Gil Evans and Nelson Riddle. Yes. And some of the and Duke Ellington, some of the great arrangers of all time. Orchestrators. Yeah. Those little cluster chords he's putting in there straight up like Stan Kenton style. Like it's incredible man.
Yeah man. His, his it's like that intersection of just like big ears talent but taste. Yeah. And like phrasing as I'm boop boop beep beep. They don't just he's here.
He hears it all. He hears it all. It's really great.
Yeah. Ten out of ten. That's foreshadowing for you. Okay, so let's get back into it. Okay. Before we move on. So that's comment on there. There was a little bit of controversy, like, not necessarily directly related to this record, but just in general with Roy and some other jazz arts. We talk about Russell Garden and stuff, especially with some of these trumpet players, because like, it's hard to underestimate or to to fully understand now in this time, like we have this tapestry of like so many different ways to play.
And there's all this commingling with jazz and all this is great, like at this time, like, what an influence that Wynton Marsalis and others. But but really spearheaded by Wynton for the so called sort of traditional all young lions neo whatever you want to call it, all acoustic, straight ahead jazz movement. Yeah.
I don't know if if maybe young people appreciate that it was a lot different in this era and especially like right before this like again, back to Russell guy. I remember the first time I heard him play was here at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and he came out and like, I think a basketball jersey, like and even that, I was like, I've never seen jazz.
Not a certain time. Yeah.
Like it was just so it just felt so fresh and young. Yeah. And yeah, but it was so unexpected too. I don't know, you know what I mean? Like what just happened very much like.
I remember even like in the, you know, mid 90s when I was playing with Roy even before that, like he was the I want to say was the first, but it was the first time I noticed, like, we would all wear suits and stuff. But then we started kind of rebelling a little. But Roy would wear a suit and some Jordans.
Yeah. You know, I mean, he was kind of like. I mean, first of all, he had great style.
Great style, great style.
So like that was part of his thing. Like he knew how to put stuff together, but it was also like kind of like saying, no, I can do both. Watch me, you know? And he always did that. And it wasn't like shtick. It was it was organic and authentic. But Wynton was like, this is no shade on Whitney.
It was just like, this was the system. Like I said, a bunch of us wouldn't have. I would have met Chris. Maybe I would have anyway. But I'm like, I met these great musicians that I would go on and play with and learn so much from because of Wynn and then countless others like Wynton created a scene.
I think Whitney's really interesting character in the history of this music, man, I think there's you they talked about a long time for all of this stuff. I mean, not just the music, which obviously we're going to talk about, but.
Well, let me play you a little something to get your reaction to that, since you have since that's what you just said. This is Wynton talking around this time, maybe a couple years before on the Charlie Rose show.
Are you still on your campaign against hip hop? And no. You know, I don't talk much about campaign against it. Now, I'm not so much a campaign against hip hop. I don't want to campaign in favor of the best in American culture. Oh, hip hop is the same. There's no question about that. Hip hop or a lot of directions we have gone in in popular music.
The musicians themselves have stated in their various books, there's something that we all recognize. What I try to liberate people from the notion that it has something to do with how old you are. I've been saying these things since I was in high school, and, I spent a long time teaching American kids. Education is the best deterrent to being both.
And many times it's just what was being sold to kids. We we we need to do a better job. And it doesn't make tunes with names you put on it. A certain message is certain ways of approaching younger people's sexuality is not going to yield a positive result. Then we end up with all of our kids in high school.
We start giving them drugs all off and everything else. Read Linda. Isn't that the direction we want?
Okay, this is another time. So I was at PBS. Yeah, I think so. Wow. So I mean, to put it in context, we have to it it's not say he's not right about some of this or what was it Newsmax. It was I know it was a different time. But I mean, that was kind of the climate in terms of like when I mean, he was I wouldn't say he was ever, like oppressive in terms of like, you know, he didn't I mean, he had a lot of power.
And he was always super generous, like in terms of as an.
Educator still is.
Still is. Yeah. So I mean, this is just one data point. This is not but I mean, he always has been, I would say, to put it kindly, may be skeptical of hip hop most and like a lot of the really so-called conscious hip hop artists that were interested in collaborating and did with jazz musicians were always a little bit off put by Wynton.
I mean, there's a great, interview with Mos Def talking about, how like, you know, once we got I mean, I'm paraphrasing here was basically like, once Roy came into our world, like, that was what we always want because we want to be connected. He's like Wynton Marsalis. We could never with the suit and tie. He didn't want to have anything to do with us.
We weren't like, smart enough or worthy. And I'm sorry, I'm going. I'm paraphrasing, but you can check out the interview. So, I mean, there was that sentiment there. Now has Wynton, you know, given the flowers to hip hop at some point probably too. But I mean, like there was this climate of that. And so, you know, and for Roy as a trumpet player coming up on here, you talking about Nicholas Payton, you talk about Russell got all these trumpet players like you have to a certain point like assert yourself.
And it wasn't the easiest thing to do. I think this was it wasn't a kid.
That energy though is probably from the 90s I'm guessing late 90s.
Like late, but might might have been early.
2000 or early 2000.
We're not journalists here. I mean.
That's still like we're we're 20 years into it. But yeah, it's so different now to. Yeah, I mean, it was like we were just talking about it and it was different now. Yeah. Everybody changes and the culture change so much.
So this was Roy at around the time, of this record coming out. I believe talking about this is I don't know if there's.
Anything different that to me the one in the same because rhythmically speaking, if you take, if you take the eight bars of somebody's rhyming and if it's like on a high level, it's kind of very similar to some. So to some of the drum patterns that people like Kenny Clark and Philly Joe Jones and were playing back in the day, hip hop is, Jazz's great grandson.
And,
But the laugh that was always, always there.
Go transcribe some Busta Rhymes. It'll blow your mind.
Yeah. And then this was Wynton on Roy.
And, your jazz.
Musician on this record.
Is not going to evolve out of hip hop musicians. But we had a deep conversation about.
It's all about him and Roy.
You can play it. It's hard to keep faith in play. And he said, look, me, you know, I like playing for black people. People do not come into this form. Music, you know, this is just what this is. And I'm, I can't just be isolated like that, and I respect them.
Yes. That was Wynton talking about a conversation he had with Roy, specifically about RH factor and doing these kinds of projects. So I know there was a lot of love between them all the way to the end of, Roy's life. I witnessed that firsthand. So I want to point that out. This was not no ongoing feud. It was just, you know, difference of opinions in terms of approaches.
So that's how art should be. And the artist should have these conversation. Yeah.
Yeah.
And I actually I mean, I like that when it kind of sticks to his guns a little bit on this too. Yeah.
Because no one else could. You imagine if Wynton come out with, like, a hit, like I was wrong all these years? I'm going to do a hip hop, collaboration. We'd be disappointed.
Him. I think it's good for everybody to have to to have someone kind of pushing back against like, well, what are we doing? You know, even if I don't agree with it, gets the.
Point in his life when he's 30, 44 years old to make this record without meeting Wynton when he was in high school, I don't know. No, I don't know, you know, so there's that to that too.
But also people want to make music that they that affects them, right, that they love.
Right.
And so Roy's doing that here. Yeah.
Authenticity.
There's nothing there's nothing like changing. That would be a real shame a real tragedy.
Yeah. Okay, let's go on to track three. This is. I'll Stay. This was a big one, too, because it's featuring D'Angelo. So we're going to ease our way in on this one.
This is so killing, and the original is so killing.
I think that's D'Angelo on the Wurlitzer, too. I believe.
Like at the.
Yeah. D'Angelo on the early piano. Of course, on bass.
I might have to change some stuff that.
This is George Clinton, right?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He.
Chalmers Alford on, aka 'Spanky' on guitar.
I got to grab a pencil.
Here, I got a pen for you.
Change in my.
Very, patient intro again, hallmark of what's happened on this record here.
Oh.
Damn.
That swampy,
So it's like an engineer in there. Oh, shout out Russell about who co-produced and engineered this record, as many as well as many of those others.
So this might be the best sounding track on the whole album to.
You.
Something about E minor two. Roy's playing off.
A lot of open strings on the bass.
Now the melody starts two minutes in. And by the way. Oh, she'll be coming back as layers of D.
Angela, you know the hair without you.
Who is the who is the modern day equivalent of George Clinton?
Oh, there's some Roy back there. I was like somebody else. Somebody else? Roy Roy's a good singer.
Oh.
No. Well, we won't.
When she returns.
Is there a modern day Clinton to George Clinton and the P-Funk Parliament? George Clinton? I know he's been still with us.
He parts of D'Angelo, but.
Still.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Man, that's a shot across Alabama. That sound on Roy, only he got there's a you could record Roy just straight up and he's gonna sound great. But this is a very distinct. I'll be honest.
Some of this album, I don't love everything the way it sounds, the production. Oh, it could be good, almost, but this one is. It's perfect. This is.
Perfect. And you know what? When you're in these silent sections, I always say, that's what when the engineer you tell. Oh, whoa. I don't know if I can find the key. Check this out. What happens when there's silence? Oh.
Whoa, whoa. The bossy don't hurt the bossy. Yeah. I'll stay. Featuring D'Angelo. Do we get everybody else out there? Bernard? Right on the B3. There's some great B3 on there. Jason Thomas, who's just killing all over this record.
Yeah. Jason Thomas and so.
You know, just, you.
Know, Pino Palladino I mean, we haven't talked about them yet because it's like it's kind of like yeah.
It's it's piano he's doing. But I mean, a big connector, he's.
Really got his piano stuff together.
He's got such a big connector with the voodoo record, for sure. This record, like him and.
Roy are huge connector. That's a great point, actually, and worth emphasizing. Like the bass.
There's two, but mainly them.
I think the bass brings the vibe to everything. And you know, you got Pino, you got you get that that voodoo vibe.
So if we stay in order here, I think we're going to get to your, one of your tracks. Is that cool? Where's your desert island?
No, no, no, let's keep it on.
Okay. Oh, this is my desert island. Sorry.
This is your desert. I mean, let's talk about it now. Let's get to the categories, because we're about there anyway. Yeah. This is your desert island.
And 70 more tracks lined up.
Just so. This is your desert island and this is my.
Oh, yeah.
Your apex moment is right. Roy's playing on this. Roy solo on.
This? Oh, that's from the very beginning.
Yeah. No, no, it's the whole track. But he. This is a tour de force. This is like, this is the best playing on the.
It's my favorite. That's why it's my like it's apex moment too. It's not quite in the middle of the record which is interesting. We always talk about placement but it's it's you know what it is. It's in the middle of what would be a normal length record. So it really is. It's the fifth track. Like, like for a 50, 55 minute record, we'd be halfway, which probably is.
We'll talk about that. So this is pastor T, and this is one of the great again shout out. So this was co-produced by Russ Alvaro who's also the engineer legend, Roy Hargrove and maybe somebody else I can't remember.
You got too much text, man.
I got it, man. You know what I'm saying? Like, we're not journalists, we always say, but we're starting to, Oh, and Jason Lane shout out Jason Lane, who I've known for many years.
We got to be better man. We're award nominated for this.
But I think Roy and Russell, I mean like the way they're working. Jason Jason's great, great musician, great business man, the whole thing. But, this is like one of the great, so subtle thing, but check out this is not going to be me messing with the vibe. The way this track starts.
It is subtle.
It's a fade in, which is rare, and it's a quick fade in, but it really sets the tone for, I think.
Yeah, you're like, wait.
It's like you're opening a door. Like like there's a party in there, you know? The, the, some of the greatest syncopation ever.
So I think this is Pino on, Reggie Watson on acoustic and maybe, you know, on the back. There's a lot of two on this.
I love the melodies. Like two bars line that is jamming.
In terms of structure, this is very much like, influenced by James Brown and groove, too. But like, when you're just soloing over one chord and then the solo, it take it to the bridge, which is going to do know.
Come on. It's some of the best voice playing ever recorded.
It really good.
Bridge to the bridge.
Yeah.
We. It's some of the most authentic voice playing. Like this is raw.
Who?
Yeah. Key dancing.
Okay, I hate this.
I want to switch over because I just want to hear. Because we got Reggie Washington, and that's.
So good and.
That good.
Oh, my God.
I like that. Oh, was. Oh, the apex moments over. So there you go. Right. Yeah. It was just a solo. There was.
This is just.
Is killing us all I want to I want you to check this out though. So here we can do a little bit of.
Crispy.
But I want to check out the bass basses.
On. Whoops.
There's an acoustic bass and electric,
Man. And stuff. Grooves that hard without. But check this out. Just roids. Groove it.
It's dancin. So much minor pentatonic. Doesn't matter.
Oh, man. It's got that. It's got that. Miles ask like I'm gonna go for it. Yeah. I'm, I'm going to skimp in there. I'm going to bam! I'm going to hit it like just oh, it's got but it's not like he's not super influenced by Miles. And like, you hear it in those little moments, but not like he's definitely influenced by Wynton like a lot of that 80s went and stuff, you know.
But then he's got that layer of like Lee Morgan, but then he's got all this like Parliament-Funkadelic kind of rhythmic approach. James Brown, James Brown groove is all over this track.
And, we need James Brown now. We need another, we need more James Brown.
That's right.
Heartache and heartache. We need.
James Brown. Dynamite. That's somebody else. Okay, now we're going to.
Where do we go? We need we need James Brown here.
Frozen until here. He dies out here we don't we don't know where he is. Shoot. Okay. We're going to move on now. Poetry track number six featuring Q-Tip and Erykah Badu. This is a banger.
This is this might be my favorite feature. I think YouTube crushes this.
This is Eric about.
One of his albums called could RH fact. And what song are you on poetry. That song poetry was monumental to our relationship to. In fact, I was very intimidated because I can't read music. I don't even know if I hit the right notes or nothing. I just know how I feel and I express the way I feel. It is intimidating to play with such a gifted musician, even though we were great friends and I remember him calling me into the studio, he said, just freestyle is whatever you feel.
Just be an instrument. Special.
So that's Erykah Badu talking about. It's a great interview. It's part of the shout out to the Roy Hargrove documentary. We'll link to that as well, if you want to go on a deep dive.
This is such a cool.
It's a bittersweet.
Structure of this song is so cool. Let's check it out with it.
Can you picture how it started to exist? Is it in a Q-Tip?
That's another connector for us, right?
Connecting all of it? Yeah. For real.
Splashes about all the brothers. Michel is on the joy. You be missing the cello.
The wonder cellos on bass.
A metal. Would you be given to these animals for the. And bring it back? Feel it. I'm really poetic, I say a great proportion. I hold my little nuances correct with this distortion. But I say, what's it always to say? Because what makes the tune what it is rhythmically we in this like a GS, know what I mean?
Like the be Mr. right. We have the overtone, the is being driven by this thing is the benevolence of joy is me the jurisprudence.
The.
Of I put it in the hip retirement. I'm just a humble little Jarvis, the hip a person. But when it got me truly indeed I see it sprinkles with the essence of life, the form I breathe. Think about it, sweetie. While we give this to the needy, the musical expression is important to Mark.
Carry on the world.
Mark carries on the world with the single line stop. Well, we all Android Pie keys, but.
Unknown
Before we get the browser, we got to read for the bell before we get. Also had to get to a crawl. Check it out now.
And don't you dare Bobby Timmons to the joint. Cool that. Yeah, I love that.
Look out now. And do you do Ronnie for the joint called Mr. Groove. Hey, now. Now is how. Go check. Yeah. Bad boy. How bro?
Hey. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Apple Tree Cafe. Great. We are.
Unknown
You YouTube. Downstairs. Oh.
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She's. She. Oh!
Unknown
I want to.
Another patient track.
So good. Yeah, so? So good.
Unknown
We. We've been on for a long time.
So, like, a little Steely Dan moment there. Yeah. What was in Italy?
Unknown
You show me the way to go. I'm not going. You know I need to go all the way.
Gene. Like here. Being like. Like insane, you know? You know, influential. Yeah.
Please show me the way to come. The all the way to go. Please show me the way to go.
I be challenging the cello on the bass.
Yeah. Play. It's super simple. I wish she could do a lot, like, just the perfect, you know, all that sustain.
This is heavy hitters on this.
Unknown
Jeff, I hate it. Run away. Where? Go.
Where's that pencil? Haha.
Sometimes I get brain. Yeah. This is the deep, deep deep track. I hate to even like faded out.
Like this huge.
That's this really is like kind of the meat of the record man.
You know, it's so hard to pick a desert island track on this album. I know. So already I'm changing it twice. I might change it to this. I'm. I already.
Committed on.
Mine. I'm committed. Okay. I'm committed.
Okay, so now we're going to move on. We're doing good here. We're not gonna get to every track because we don't have seven days. But the whole record is just the progression of this record is great. I was breaking up a little bit, but we're going in order at least. Yeah, yeah. So this is this is a really cool two.
This is Forget Regret featuring Stephanie McKay. This is track number eight.
This is by the saxophone player, right? Yeah.
Yeah. Royce just.
I love the production on this one with the.
The front trumpets in the back chamber.
Like a room mic trumpet. Yeah. That could even just be the reverb. Yeah. Channel on the Harmon one. Yeah, yeah.
Your sugar, your feet.
Your touch. It's such a good song. Yeah. For.
That's Jack on the chart as well. Your press.
Your hair, your stuff. What does this remind me of? Spin. You can hear it in the comments. What is this song?
Yeah, I know, I was thinking that early. I was like.
I know it's something. I don't want.
To be free. If it means that I'll be without you.
This could have been on Love Jones song. Thank you. That was a.
Unknown
I just want to say how much you hate me.
I'll be so good now.
You like it?
I like you.
Unknown
You.
I do love this song. All right. I don't need to pencil.
That's a nice little low, steely interlude. Your second verse.
Unknown
Thing. You'll touch your hair. You for.
So whisper.
Unknown
Mode. You press your hand, your stop.
Spin your kiss.
Your shadow. Okay. We got. Sorry. We're gonna. We're gonna get past fair use in a couple seconds. Here.
Booty, booty. It's like some. It's like some 70s rock anthem. Yeah, I think it's what I'm thinking. Got you. I could be wrong, but put it in the comments. What? What is. Forget regret. Yeah, where am I? Where am I hearing that from?
So now we're going to jump to number ten. I love this track. This almost made it on I mean this this is kind of a sleeper one. There's something about this though. It's so like Roy, it's probably the most, like understated kind of, I have no idea what the meaning behind this is called liquid streets, but I just think it's it sounds just like a little vibe Segway tune.
Right?
It's like how they wet down the streets and those Ridley Scott films. Liquid liquid.
It's just that same repeated simple form. But then it goes to one.
Unknown
Of the plays.
Unknown
If you talk about.
Roy as the unnoticed.
Melodies, I mean.
This is classic.
Maybe the greatest ever.
You know, this man, you can tell he loves melody so much. Like he could feel the love. He love melody to say.
You know what? He's playing a very simply.
You feel that he doesn't put any bullshit on melodies ever, right? Straight from the heart. Yeah.
That's a fun one. Like, if you want to go deep dive and it's really cool where it's place all the records, and once you get here, you're like, this is the vibe. Finally, finally, can we go to the final track here?
It's not the final track of the album. What is the final track? But it's also the 14 track. Yeah, this is a good one. And this is. We were talked about like the Tin Pan Alley thing. This is a great reference.
Yeah. So this is Roy. Like, this is the closest, I think, on this record to like, the way that he wrote some beautiful like very like from a harmonic and really structure standpoint very much like ABBA, Tin Pan Alley, George Gershwin kind of. But Duke Ellington like, just very beautiful stands with beautiful melodies. But on this one, like, you really hear that harmony come across and this can become really just like schlocky.
Is that a word? But he's.
So genuine. It's so. And like, like.
You said, placing this in a hip hop or like a groove situation can be very like.
But we heard him say in that interview, he doesn't think there's a difference between like for him, there's no difference. It's just music that he loves that he hears. And you could tell like it's very, very authentic. He's not trying to put in any airs that aren't real.
Right. So this is like that. Yeah. No pun intended. It's like the opposite of what's that show that I can't stand. Okay, I'm going to get flamed for people saying the Bennigan's the beginning agains the, you know, the British one where they're all dressed up with the Queen and, everyone goes crazy over on Netflix. The what do you love?
Oh, Bridgerton.
Bridgerton.
The beginning. It's Peter.
Bridgerton that's putting on.
It. I feel like that's maybe Kelly Martin's favorite show, and it's a little triggering for you.
It's very tricky, but I'm saying that whole show is about putting on airs, right?
For sure. This is the I've. I've never seen it, but.
With the stroke the anti begin against Bridgerton.
Beginning kids sounds like something my kids wouldn't listen to. Band. Oh they in the beginning.
As they go to eat at.
Bennigan's.
Bennigan's like a high end Applebee's.
I love this, I'm such a sucker for the sound to.
Little three vibe. You right there. It's like Benny Golson. Yeah, right. Totally.
Yes. Totally. Great call.
They got the bluesy sass on.
That little, Luke hospital Sunday morning, little East, Saint Louis, his own.
Oh that's right.
Shout out to Tony Sons on the organ on this. Yeah.
I was so delighted when I saw that. Thank you. Liner notes. This is only appearance on this record.
Sucks.
Saint Louis is on East Saint Louis on Tony sucks by way of Domo arigato. Tokyo, Japan.
By way of Japan.
This bridge may Royce greater right Virgin. And then standard harmony. But I was always something a little unusual in there. Like there.
Yeah, well, a fantastic songwriter. I mean, in the classic songwriting sense.
Gorgeous, man. Yeah. Doesn't get any better.
So that's it? That's it. That's the record. Let's get to some categories.
Yeah. Desert Island, what do you got?
So I have pastor T we listen to that already. You've got forget regret. We listen to that already.
I did have forget regret. I might change it to I'll stay, but I'll. You know what? I'm going to keep my original instinct. Forget regret. I really, really love that melody a lot. Oh.
It's great. I mean, there's so many I could have. I think pastor T to me is like, that would be the thing. If I'm stuck somewhere with just what it would remind me of everything else, but it would mostly remind me of what this did.
Do it. But do.
You kick? Do I mean, just the vibe? Yeah. I mean, I listen to that every day. I could listen, I do listen to that a lot.
What's your apex.
Moment? Apex moment. So there's a track called The Joint which is Killing on here that we didn't we had to come off because we don't have time. But I just want to go to some of the killing is Royce. This is to me the apex moment of this record. Like, you could pick a lot of people, but I'm like, this is such a quintessential Roy production and record.
I'm like, the apex moment has to be featuring and playing the trumpet, right? Yeah. Okay, so I mean, you know.
You do what you want to do, but.
This is a got this whole thing is I'm to.
Okay. We got to wait till we get to it in one minute.
To see who played.
Bernard. Right. Of course. No, that's Bobby Sparks on the ARP.
Piano? Of course.
Another patient song.
You can see piano ballad.
Big tall.
Big toe.
Welshman. Oh, well.
Speaking in English, which sounds like a different language. Yes. Okay, we're almost there.
We said at the beginning you got to settle in.
Yeah. You guys settle in.
Unknown
I don't have,
Killing.
The sound that's for the sound.
Side is killing. Russ ELO battle. Shout out. Oh, the.
Oh. Oh, man.
But I guess it's good. That's a great, great producer.
But, I mean, like, just the way he plays and where it's placed in there, it's the apex moment, but it's like it's also just it's the most understated. But to me, it's just it's like the most beautiful part. Like you, even if you didn't know, like, you know, if you hear him play that.
You know, so, my apex moment was Roy on past 30, which we've already listened to.
He was just I mean, he's firing. That's Roy too. I mean, Roy just like firing with all that classic, incredible funk. Syncopation.
What about you? Better. What do you got for a bespoke, playlist?
I'm calling this collection of jams, bona fide, bona fide, bona fide.
Bona fide.
Bona fide jazz fusion. Okay, like this to me is jazz fusion. I know jazz fusion is supposed to be only be rock and jazz, but fusion bring this is hip hop and jazz, right? When R&B. Yeah. And soul.
Well.
Duh. Can't be. We can't fuze more than three things.
You can, but I think fusion is it's. I'll. I'll allow it. Yeah, well, I got it. Yeah. Mine is. This is the Age of Aquarius.
Where it's like we're going towards an accident. I don't want to take it out of the car, though.
Let's just keep going. Go with what you got.
Man, this was a hard one for me, cause I love this record. Yeah. And kind of diving back into it from beginning to end. I've never stopped. Listen to this record over the years. Like this is kind of rare for me for a record from this period. That's how much I love it. So I, you know, if I'm forced to say, are there too many guests on here because I want more Rory and but they don't get in the way.
And I love the way he plays behind it, but maybe a little bit. And there could be a case to say the records too long, but there's nothing I would take out. You know, it's a long record.
I think that's valid, though.
It's 73 minutes.
Do we want a little bit more Roy like, maybe. Yeah. And also but.
There's a I mean there's great Roy on here. It's some of the greatest Roy. But yeah. Are we being greedy?
We are being greedy for sure. But that's I mean, these are quintuplets bits. These are not meant to be like, oh, this is like a plane. It's literally a quibble of a bit. Just a bit of a quibble. Yeah. I, you know, for me too, I think it's also like it is an hour and 12 minutes long. I think this is a little too long.
If this were 50 minutes long, 55 minutes long.
Out there, give me a list. Don't give me that. Which Roy solos, would you? Well, how about Daniel? Just get rid of him,
Maybe he was doing double.
Them, right?
You know, maybe then. But also, you know, I do have. And we're really quibbling here. Yeah, but like you wrote it, I wish there was more cross stick and less open snare drum. I know.
Shots fired, rim shots.
Fired him. Shots fired. I it's not my. If you're.
Not thinking about the sound of that, it's.
Not my favorite.
The alto ness of it. Right. Yeah.
There's not my favorite snare drum sound. It's somewhere in between of what I really wanted to hear. And that's very quibble, because it's really like, just listening to it now.
Groovy as hell.
I know you do, but and again, this is like a super mega quibble of a bit. Yeah.
But and he's.
Talking about like, what would this sound like if it was like a deep metal Ludwig sound?
Yeah, of a.
Snare.
Drum. And just to be clear, I think you're not talking about the sound, the engineering of the sound of the snare. You're talking about the intonation. Yeah, pitching of the snare. Maybe it's the smaller snare. Maybe it's tight. It's a higher pitched. It's a it's a tighter, snare sound.
Yeah, yeah. And it's not that I like. I actually think actually, I think if I were hearing this band live, I would want that, and I would really like that. But there is something with the way it's recorded. There's something with the way it's mixed where it's like, oh, especially he's playing like those, those kind of cack rimshot stuff should be louder somehow.
It doesn't feel as loud as I know it would feel in the room and.
Gain on it, maybe a.
Little suppression or something, or it's just lower in the mix. I don't know, there's something about it. That and again, total knee jerk, but if I really have to quibble a bit, it would be that. Okay, now I honestly listening to it again here today, which we listen to it all week leading up to this, but even hearing it again today, most of those tracks, I'm just like this is so well produced.
So it's really not like, you know, it could have been produced, not better.
It's not like.
It's just getting an interim head pick from them.
So the abomination what do you have?
I have, two.
Why?
It is not snobby.
I think this is a very snobby record.
It made the Billboard pop charts. What are you talking on?
Like, a little bit, but, I mean, that's so. So. Okay, so is that the new definition for this? Nah.
I'm just trying to see what I'm saying. You for.
Jazz.
People like, you.
Know, to say that you love this, if you're a jazz person, that makes you a huge hit. Okay, we're going five, then we're going to averages.
I don't go.
Five. It's nothing.
I had eight. You had to.
That in kind of blue. No, no, accouterments.
I go nine, I go.
Ten.
That. I was going to say this is a close ten for me. I'm not going to do it just because.
This shit looks amazing.
It's amazing. But it wouldn't be like if I wasn't able to open it up and stuff. I don't know, I'm comparing it to LPs.
But you know, and also like, you know, having I'm so glad you brought in the CD too, because like.
Look at this, look at.
These notes. Look at those liner notes. Everybody get it, get it, get it, get it.
Writes a great he writes a great little.
There's a great blurb in there. Yeah. It's incredible.
Yeah. Thanks I love the thank you. This is only one I used to read that way. It was like thanking people.
We want original art. That's incredible. That gives a vibe to the music. And we want some, like detailed notes. Who's playing on what we want this folks to know.
Tony Suggs was on the B3 on the final track.
Imagine not knowing Tony Suggs is playing B3 on the final track. What would be.
Up next for you? Like, what do you want to hear after this? In a Spotify play? Well, we don't want to use your neck. You got your 500 CD changer. What do you want the next CD to be?
There's a boring answer, which is voodoo. There's a less answer, which is Doctor Frankenstein.
That's what we play. Those are good.
Things. And then you could sandwich these.
You can put this as a compliment.
Sandwich in the middle of will go with us.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to I'm going to take it back. And then I've got one more little thing to play as we go out. Well, we gotta, we gotta talk about our gallon.
We gotta go. Yeah.
Since we're about to become an actual award, possibly. Please.
You've been saying we were award winning for years, and we actually might be this.
Time, so. Right. But I'm going to say up next is a record called Buckshot Lafont, Branford Marsalis, a band that he had. It's took a call ten years nor nine years before this. Yeah. Check out a little bit of this because we think about this record and this was groundbreaking, but I want to get some flowers to Branford Marsalis, friend of the pod, hopefully still friend of of Peter.
We have a history I love him, I love, I love you, Branford. Come back home. In case you're.
Listening. You guys been a little standoffish lately.
Now, not me. I'm just not. I love Branford, I've got a chance to play, and, hey, I love Branford. Little inside joke we have. If you're if you're watching this, Branford, put that in the comments. But this is his wonderful project, Buckshot the Funk.
He's definitely not watching.
From 1994. I just think be embarrassing with that. Buckshot the funk, 1994. Check this out.
Is it? This is a good call. Yeah.
It's talk about hip hop and jazz.
Who's that old trumpet?
I don't know, he's Roy Hargrove. Yeah.
24 years old.
Good. Get Peter good get man of the ideas. I forgot about this. This is a good call. Great. I remember.
Because.
This is when I was playing with Roy when this record came out. Same year. Awesome. Yeah.
So it's still work, but he's a little younger. Roy. Right.
Sounds great. So. Yeah.
So we got to give a shout out to Branford for at least this had to have some influence on Roy in this process for sure. Bucks all that funk is a killing record too. I've and similar. That's what I'm saying. This is an influence. Had some guest vocals, some kind of lesser known at the time that we're in.
Okay, so.
D.J. Premier is kind of like, you know, all over that in terms of like, so.
Not groundbreaking at all, this one that it's.
Like everything when they say when you know, when they're like the iPhone came out, everyone's like, it's incredible. Like Microsoft. And what was the company in Canada Rim they had the the blueberry BlackBerry thing, you know big in against. Oh they they had the BlackBerry for years like what do you mean we got a smartphone. But everyone's like the iPhone was the first smartphone.
I put myself through music school and Bennigan's. Okay. We do have a gala, so if you don't know what a gala is, Peter hipped the folks to what, a guy we.
Worked at a gala. What, you work from afar, a gala.
A real gallery. I did an arrangement for a gala. But you played the West Coast? Yeah. What's, What's the. You'll hear it.
Gala, this is the gentlemen and ladies agreement. And this is where my flag.
Yeah.
Whereby if you've made it to this point of the podcast, even if you haven't made it this point, you actually are part of the agreement. It's one of those agreements. You're like when you pull into a parking lot and there's a bunch of small print I paid lot. You never see anything but you. It's like you hereby agree to this by entering.
Yeah, that's what this is. So you are agreeing, in this case.
So if someone steals the keys out of my car, you'll hear it's not going to go. Okay.
You're not only we say the gentleman's ladies agreement, you agree to give us a rating or a review or a comment on YouTube. We exchange for us, providing you this beautiful bluster, this, podcast.
Not a word. But today it's a little bit different, because today, Peter, we are nominated for two, not one, but two signal awards.
Which is kind of a big.
Deal. This is like a big deal in the podcast space. So if you.
Are going to get that app signal, is that how we vote.
On. Yeah signal gate. We are finalists in the Best Music podcast category and the best sorry, the most innovative video podcast category. Hails. Yeah. And as finalists, we're also in the running for People's Choice Award in both those categories, which is where we need your help. This podcast gets the most are the podcast that gets the most votes wins.
So that's called a contest I know.
So if you like what we're doing here, please consider voting for. You'll hear it.
Peter, this is a huge deal. Yeah. If we can, we vote multiple times. No, you can only vote once. But we are in those two categories. You can open.
Up a private browser. I'm just saying, get whatever you want, but.
We really appreciate your support. It's a big deal for us. And we're of course it's an honor just to be nominated. We're in the categories with like some big I know people, I.
Know we need your help.
We do need your help because they need your vote.
Yeah. We're not it's not like a pay to play situation, but it could be.
But if I know something about our You'll Hear It. Listeners, our dear listeners. Yes, they are kind of ravenously loyal. They will get.
To especially the ones that make it this far. I'm looking at you, Branford Marsalis.
Till next time.
You'll Hear It