| Details | | Distributor: | Phantom Import Distributi | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | DDD |
Album Notes
Personnel includes: KCB, Shabaam Sahdeeq (rap vocals); Tony Remy (guitar); Jonathan Gee (melodica); Ed Jones (soprano saxophone); Mike Williams (alto saxophone); Steve Williamson, Mike Smith (tenor saxophone); Dominic Glover, Alexander Pope Norris (trumpet); Dennis Rollins (trombone); Gareth Williams (acoustic & electric pianos); Gherardo Catanzaro (piano); Tim Vine (electric piano).
Includes liner notes by Bruce Lundvall.
British issue from Phantom Import
Us3's second album takes its title from the original address of one of New York's most renowned jazz clubs. At the dawn of bebop, Birdland played host to a legion of innovators who took jazz into uncharted waters. Us3 uses the grooves and riffs of jazz giants like Horace Silver and Wayne Shorter as sonic building blocks for its own sound. Sampling classic jazz cuts from the Blue Note catalog, the band adds hip-hop and funk touches to create a fresh new amalgam.
BROADWAY & 52ND relies less on samples than Us3's 1993 debut, HAND ON THE TORCH, and more on original compositions and performances, but Geoff Wilkinson's production techniques are still the element that holds the whole thing together. The band also goes for more of a straight-ahead rap approach, with socially-conscious, message-oriented cuts like "Caught Up In A Struggle" and "Recognise And Realise" providing a thoroughly modern context for an album that combines the musical traditions of two very different eras.
Editorial Reviews
...This time around, producer Geoff Wilkinson digs deeper into the Blue Note catalog to come up with some obscure jazz samples combined with live musicians and the poetic lyrics of newcomers KCB and Shabaam Shadeeq...
Rap Pages (08/01/1997)
...Jazz comes up from the basement with sensuous sampled loops from the Blue Note archives, and in through the side door with heated solos between the raps... - Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly (04/18/1997)
3.5 Stars (out of 5) - The groove is nonstop....Once again producer/mixer Geoff Wilkinson dips into the Blue Note vault to borrow beat samples, rappers KCB and Shabaam Sahdeeq wax eloquent with news from the street and a rotating crew of musicians fills the gaps with strong improvisational flights...
Down Beat (01/01/1997)
...the rapping will undoubtedly draw criticism from serious hip-hip heads--but the music provides a pleasing and catchy, albeit light-hearted backdrop...
Option (07/01/1997)
3.5 Stars (out of 5) - The groove is nonstop....Once again producer/mixer Geoff Wilkinson dips into the Blue Note vault to borrow beat samples, rappers KCB and Shabaam Sahdeeq wax eloquent with news from the street and a rotating crew of musicians fills the gaps with strong improvisational flights...
Down Beat (01/01/1997)
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