For a couple of years now, Adam 'Rock' Moses & Justin 'TopRock' Mckenzie have been rocking their weekly clubnight called Jazz Re:freshed in London. Live gigs are an essential part of those nights, and over time the list of Jazz Re:freshed artists has grown very impressive. This double cd is their first compilation, and when you know every artist on it has performed there, you realize you're dealing with one heavyweight clubnight!
A quick rundown of the 26 tracks reveals a lot of big names: Azymuth, Reel People, Kaidi Tatham, The Rebirth, Fertile Ground, Marc de Clive-Lowe, Taylor McFerrin, Robert Mitchell, Jason Yarde, Julie Dexter, Silhouette Brown, Femi Temowo ... There's lots of album tracks on this compilation that many may already know and have — though it's still very nice to get them in one convenient package — so we'll focus on the exclusives and lesser known ones.
Kaidi Tatham kicks things off with 'These Things Will Pass', an excellent exclusive tune. After a good minute of smooth soulful hiphop the track switches directions and jumps into a trademark Kaidi bruk shuffle — must have for the fans! Silhouette Brown is featured with a nice dub version of 'Check It' and Taylor McFerrin delivers 'The Song I Promised You', a joyful take on bossa nova. New to me are the great nu soul of Obenewa and Green, the funky breaks of The Organism and Shelley Nicole's Blakbushe, the wicked jazzfunk of Elettrorganica, and solid jazz by The Tim Collinson Quartet and Xantone Blacq. There's something for everybody here!
PS: go check the legendary UK jazzfunk band Light of the World next thursday at Jazz Re:freshed!
www.jazzrefreshed.com
www.myspace.com/jazzrefreshed
by Lensco for beyondjazz.net
