Khingz -Blaq Han Solo from Wes Goodlife on Vimeo.

Khingz
Blaq Han Solo
From Slaveships to Spaceships
Dir: Wes Goodlife

www.khingz.com
www.kisskissgoodnight.com

February 2010: A Short Tribute to Ahmad Jamal
DJ Ian Head

I write these liner notes with a sigh. First of all, let me say Ahmad Jamal is one of my favorite pianists of all time, and I love many of his records immensely. The albums "Jamal Plays Jamal" and "The Awakening" are pieces of art that should be in every music lover's collection. His covers of standards and classics are often beautiful and creative, and his touch on the keys always sounds incredible.

This is a short mix of eight songs I really dig, nothing close to a sampling of his catalog. In making the mix, I thought I'd try and spice things up a little and maybe drop in a nice sample of Jamal speaking once or twice, so I searched the internets for a nice little snippet. I did find a nice interview from 1985 on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" show (everyone needs to tune in to this if they haven't already) but it didn't quite fit.

And then I found a more recent 20 minute interview on a WNYC show, and after getting halfway through, had to turn it off. While the interviewer left much to be desired, so did Jamal. Even after being told that hip-hop had helped many people find his music, he had nothing to say except mumble about not getting paid for samples.

Tomorrow would be J. Dilla's birthday, and I know there's a number of events over the next week dedicated to the genius which passed away much too soon. Thought I'd re-post the mixtape I did last year for February, of my favorite Dilla records / samples. RIP J. Dilla.

WaxPoetics Records - Interview Amir Abdullah (Kon&Amir) from alex deforce on Vimeo.

Really dug this. Some grown-man record digging talk. I've been trimming the stacks recently and trying to figure out the balance between obsessive collecting and living life, so it's cool to hear one of the all-time great collectors weigh in on his love of music and where he's at now with crate digging.

Ok so when I was a kid I had this dub of Digital Underground's "Sex Packets." I played that shit a lot. If you don't know bout this album - well, naw, I KNOW everyone over 20 has heard "Humpty Dance" at least a couple times. But the album is a bonafide classic - it's incredibly out-there goofy creative sexed up madness, and also slamm-in' (that's some 90s slang for you youngins) West Coast funk. Shock G had skills on the mic and the beats, and especially the piano.

But what I didn't know when listening was that several tracks on the cassette were only available on tape. Not on CD. Not even on vinyl. That's some classic West Coast, in-the-trunk era exclusiveness for you. So when shit went digital, and I became a vinyl-addict, I lost my sacred dub and suddenly was without a couple key tracks from my childhood.

One of these was the cut above, "A Tribute to the Early Days." Not the most amazing cut, it was just some old school rhymes over a serious funk break. Serious funk. That shit stuck in my head for years, even after I had lost the tape. And then one day, I found the 45 with the break: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMUJeI2UilE&feature=related

This is great. (h/t BusCrates)

Not only is Funkmaster Flex killin it on the classic breakbeats, but even better is Kool DJ Red Alert's commentary, reminiscing on old school clubs, DJs, records, and just the foundation of NYC hip-hop. Pure classic. Shout to Beirut for putting me on to this video.