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MIX NOTES

Feeling Good – If you’re not hip to the sublime Gregory Porter, I highly suggest you get so. Jazz vocalists like him don’t come along very often. I’ve seen him live a few times, and when he’s not absolutely ripping the roof off, he goes deep, reaching down to near Donny Hathaway depths of soulful. Catch him on tour HERE

The Righteous Path of an Honorable Man – Some solo sax work from 2011 that reaches almost a Phillip Glass level of hypnotic chaos. Colin Stetson is what you call a “multireedist”. Not the sexiest term, but he does play sax and flute and clarinet and french horn and cornet so I guess we must call him something. He was born in Ann Arbor but calls Montreal home, and he’s best known for his work with Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, and Belle Orchestre.

You’re My Thrill – In full disclosure I’ve never invested much time in the Peggy Lee songbook, as there are other vocalists whose work I feel I have just scratched the surface of, but wow does she really owns this one for me. She recorded this in 1957, after it had already been tackled by Lena Horne and Billie Holiday and Doris Day to name a few, but none of those versions come close to the haunting nature of Peggy’s rendition. The lyrics were written by Sydney Clare, who is best known for writing “the good ship lollipop”, if you can believe it. If I was in the business of sending flirtatious mix tapes, this would be the first track.

Twice – Leave it to Lianne La Havas to cover my favorite Little Dragon song and absolutely SLAY it. It was recorded in a barn to promote the intimate and secretive “In The Woods” festival, which is held every year in an undisclosed location in Kent, UK. If you don’t want to have this girl sing you awake every morning, you will after watching this VIDEO

Sack Full of Dreams – Another amazing live gem from my favorite vocalist of all time, Donny Hathaway. I bought this album, “In Performance”, for the jaw-dropping rendition of “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”, but pretty much every track is heartbreakingly gorgeous. If Lianne is on wake up duty, I suppose I would prefer Donny to lull me to sleep. Recorded in 1971 at the Troubador in LA and the Bitter End in NYC, I am under the impression these were simply cuts that didn’t make the “Donny Hathaway Live” album, which, for my money, is the greatest live album ever recorded.

Beautiful Little Fools – The UK does seem to be blossoming with young soul singing talent these days. This is Jorja Smith from Walsall, near Birmingham. She’s part Amy Winehouse part Lauryn Hill, but she’s got a swagger that is all her own. She’s only been putting out tracks for the last couple of years. Hopefully her recent guest vocal on Drake’s “Get Together” is gonna blow her sky high.

Me And Your Mama – I know I am late to this party but god DAMN this Childish Gambino album “Awaken My Love”(2016) is SO good. Like, really REALLY good. This was the first single, which is a pretty bold move considering how it starts out like a Bootsy ballad, then switches gears into a rock opera that is half Pink Floyd half Lenny Kravitz, then breaks down to a dreamy instrumental that sounds like the engineer just left the tape running while he finished his last menthol.

I Want To be Free – a classic ballad from Dayton’s own Ohio Players, from their 1975 “Fire” LP. They started out as The Ohio Untouchables in 1959, as the rhythm section of a band called The Falcons. Frontman Leroy Bonner aka “Sugarfoot” didn’t join until about 1965, when they changed their name and got busy putting Dayton on the Funk map.

The Way – Jill Scott’s first album never gets old. Truly timeless. When we saw her live in Coney Island last summer the whole crowd screamed GRRIIIIIIIIITTTTSSSSSSSS

Jupiter – I first came across Gallant on last year’s epic scorcher “Weight In Gold”. Dude can SANG. On some Maxwell meets Prince type shit. Not bad for just 3 years in the game. This is from his 2016 debut album Ology. It’s a reworking of “Jupier Greyscale” from his first EP Zebra. I’m all ears.

Sometimes It Snows In April – Recorded live on Jimmy Fallon’s show just a few days after Prince died, D’angelo really left a piece of his soul in this track. He was on the verge of tears the entire song. So was I. Minnie Ripperton’s baby girl Maya Rudolph on backup.

Joy In Repetition – Graffiti Bridge is one of those Prince albums I didn’t give much time to. I just wasn’t feeling the movie or most of his music in those years. But hearing the bootleg house mix of this song so much in the NY Underground a few years ago kinda brought me back around. All of a sudden I loved this song. Then I discovered that even though it came out in 1990, this song was actually recorded during the Sign of The Times sessions in July of 1986. The same week Prince laid down “The Cross”, “Sign O’ The Times” and “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man”. OK then. Now I understand.

Earth – thirteen minutes of beautiful moody Jazz from Joe Henderson and Alice Coltrane. Joe Henderson was born in Lima Ohio but caught the Jazz bug in Detroit. His career took flight in the early 60s, playing with Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, and a host of other Blue Note names, including a brief stint with Miles. 1973 was amidst a real experimental era for these folks, where pretty much anything was fair game. African drums. Harps. Gongs. harmoniums. Strains of Native American, Indian and Latin music. Spoken word ramblings. Oh and weed. Lots and lots of weed. Puff Puff Pass.

Intro Azul – Some schmoove scheisse from Germany: Aachen beatmaker Flofilz and vocalist Olivia Wendlandt. This came out last year on Flofilz Cenário album (Melting Pot). You can peep more of his beats HERE

Private Life (dub & vocal) – Finishing off this mix with a long dubby take on The Pretender’s 1980 hit. Chryssie Hynde apparently LOVED this Grace Jones version, and felt like it was the reggae song she had always wanted it to sound like. I have an eternal crush on both of these women, so I’m good with either rendition. That’s a wrap! Peace.