The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Orion's picture

    Jazz And Hip-Hop: The Intersection

    By Orion on Sat, 07/13/2013 - 3:35pm |

    From Blood Is One:

    A while back, I made a post about Miles Davis where I played "Doo Bop Sound" - I heard that song for the first time when I was in high school, I think. I had no idea that that piano loop was actually a Gang Starr / DJ Premier beat. Gang Starr is comprised of Guru and DJ Premier - Guru has since passed away but Premier is still a producer. He is well known for producing beats for everyone from Nas to Royce da 5'9. This is the Gang Starr version:

    Here is the Miles Davis version:

    Hip-hop can go in alot of different generations - some really good and some really bad, like any genre. I would argue that Premier's turntable scratching is as head nodding as Miles' trumpet. It may never be as intense and raw as it was when Tupac, Biggie, Eminem or 50 Cent were the most popular but hip-hop is a very enduring genre and will always be a part of the music mosaic.

    Comments

    All of the jazz guys were not only greater improvisers but they were eclectic and adaptable.  Jazz converged from so many other forms of music with ragtime, big bad/swing, African and African-American spirituals, Blues and Bluegrass and Gypsy notes all converging over time.  And, Jazz managed to encompass all of the styles that came after.  The classics so frequently show up in the background of contemporary hip hop Bitches Brew remains unique, the Tiajuana moods of Mingus beat any of the lounge revival of the 90s and Aughts and, man... I have Dizzy Gillespie playing 80s style trumpet somewhere and that is a scream, figuratively and not.


    by Michael Maiello on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 10:57pm

    Thank you so much for this comment, Mike.


    by Orion on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 11:32pm