The Witzard

Cowboys & Frenchmen (C&F) are a wonderfully named, New York -based Modern Jazz quintet that describes itself as an act who "produces music that is expressive and fiercely creative, taking co-improvisation to new heights," as their Facebook About section fitting describes. I'll be the first to readily admit, I'm not the most well-versed on Jazz 's formative late greats, but I've always enjoyed a Jazz -minded Hip-Hop sample and the Neo-Jazz stylings of Flying Lotus and his BRAINFEEDER crew, BADBADNOTGOOD AKA BBNG, Wu-Tang Clan -indebted El Michels Affair , Polish Jazz septet EABS , and even "The Greatest Band In Late Night," Philly 's own The Roots . I received a cold-sent email late last week from Massachusetts -based PR company Braithwaite & Katz Communications highlighting the title track from Cowboys & Frenchmen 's innovative, alto sax-led sophomore album, Bluer Than You Think —to be released on Outside-In-Music ...

" Californian keyboardist and beat-maker Kiefer (birth name Kiefer Shackelford ) drops his debut LP with enough Jazz piano chops to transform LA 's Low End Theory into a smokey speakeasy. Catch Kiefer crushing the stage NOW in the touring Mndsgn LIVE trio ( Ringgo, Swarvy & Kiefer ). Kickinit Alone is available now exclusively through our partners at Stones Throw Records . World-wide digital and cassette release March 3rd, 2017," reads an album-announcing statement uploaded to LEAVING RECORDS' on-site blog Wednesday. Kiefer 's only prior studio appearances were on LEAVING label mate Swarvy 's "Spam Grease" from his Electronic/Soul-Funk album Elderberry and "Akasha (Piano)" from Mndsgn & Nanna B 's collaborative Akasha 7-inch from Stones Throw & LEAVING RECORDS sister label, Akashik Records & Tapes . Along with the album release announcement, Kiefer unleashed title track, "Kickinit Alone," ...

I'll keep this intro rather short and sweet, as this one's pretty self-explanatory and cut and dry... while watching the Atlanta Falcons honorable attempt at a Super Bowl LI Champion trophy last night, I saw this rather intriguing @2DopeBoyz-premiered DJ Manipulator (@dustymanip) mix prop up within my Twitter timeline. Its Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters Head Hunters re-appropriating cover artwork is the first thing that caught my eye (I've been obsessed with "Watermelon Man" ever since RS500 ). After a brief, yet highly informative listen, I decided to write a quick email to the self-proclaimed "DJ/Producer/NERD Contact'"s Twitter -listed email contact, which ended up being his manager, Derek "Kas" Kastal . Long story short... Kas quickly got me in touch with DJ Manipulator himself and we decided the best form of "attack" might be some sort of playlist of "Jazz Is Everything" mix breakdown; by around 1:0...

"ATTENTION EARTH PEOPLE! FROM THE STRANGE AND INFINITE WORLDS OF OUTER SPACE COMES A DUO OF INTERGALACTIC TRAVELERS! EXPERIENCE SOUNDS NEVER BEFORE DREAMED! ASTONISHING JOURNEYS AWAIT ON A COSMIC SAFARI WITH JENOVA 7 & EDDIE SHINN! INCOMING TRANSMISSION ," reads a rather impassioned, albeit gloriously spaced out, precursor to the description attached to Cold Busted's A Cosmic Safari Bandcamp page. Self-described "producer, crate-digger, beat poet, time-traveler, [and] instrumental storyteller" Michael J. Sirois (Jenova 7) by way of Boston, Massachusetts and Ulyanovsk, Russia-based producer and Cold Busted author Eddie Shinn are separated by a half-world's distance; however, still managed to jointly co-produce "A Cosmic Safari [which] takes this international concept and launches it skyward... the album’s songs take place in an intergalactic sound-space." A Cosmic Safari is scheduled to "land" this upcoming Friday, September 9th in 11...

"I began to feel that I had been spending so much time exploring the upper atmosphere of music and the more ethereal kind of far-out spacey stuff. Now there was this need to take some more of the earth and to feel a little more tethered; a connection to the earth... I was beginning to feel that we (the sextet) were playing this heavy kind of music, and I was tired of everything being heavy. I wanted to play something lighter," revered Jazz-Funk pianist Herbie Hancock wrote within the liner notes to the 1997 CD re-issue of his Headhunters -assisted Head Hunters (1973). Mere hours after making his first ground-breaking appearance on late night TV, giving Fallon 's predecessor Seth Meyers a rather laxed, yet incredibly amusing, tutorial on how to cook char-grilled octopus, rapping chef Action Bronson unexpectedly released our first taste lifted from his long-rumored Blue Chips 7000 (formerly titled Blue Chips 7 ) in the form of Meyhem Lauren & Jah Tiger -assiste...

Aside from a series of pretty lackluster mismatched performances and Kanye 's attempted hi-jacking of Album of The Year winner Beck 's spotlight, the only legitimate stroke of "real artistry" at this year's GRAMMY Awards came from Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Herbie Hancock, ?uestlove , and legendary bassist Adam Blackstone . Sheeran's GRAMMY -assembled super-group performed a spirited live rendition of his latest x single, "Thinking Out Loud;" making best use of recent Late Late Show hosts guitar playing-talents, The Roots drummer/bandleader's "chops," and the classically-trained Jazz pianist's gentle stroke of the ivory keys. It seems as though Ed Sheeran and John Mayer (both reported exes of Taylor Swift ) have put aside whatever differences they might have had, effectively becoming "the weirdest friends ever," to paraphrase Leslie Mann from The Other Woman . I, for one, would definitely not mind hearing a John Ma...

Flying Lotus' latest Warp Records -released creation, You're Dead! features a wide array of contributions from an unlikely gamut of collaborators including Kendrick Lamar , Snoop Dogg, Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock , Angel Deradoorian, frequent collaborator Thundercat , and even Lotus' own rapping alter-ego Captain Murphy; but according to a flurry of late night Tweets the other night, for whatever reasons, additional tracks recorded with super-star guests Pharrell , Chance The Rapper, Mac Miller , and supplementary Kendrick Lamar material were ultimately scrapped. Aside from dwelling on what could have been... Flying Lotus unleashed the first Lamar-assisted single from You're Dead! , "Never Catch Me" nearly one week prior to the album's release, last Wednesday, October 1st. It's an oddly heartwarming life-affirming, death-defying clip, which only showcases a brief milli-second glimpse of Steven Ellison (Lotus) himself, who's quietly seated ...

It's almost hard to believe that chef-turned rapper Action Bronson 's independently pressed Dr. Lecter album was already released nearly four years ago. He's somehow managed to unknowingly charm over middle [white] America , whilst rapping almost exclusively about fine dining, pro wrestling, sexual exploits, and drug trade. My beautiful girlfriend and I have been lucky enough to witness Bronson's charismatic stage show twice thus far, on the 2 High 2 Die Tour alongside Danny Brown & Trash Talk and as part of the XXL Freshmen 2013 Tour with Joey Bada$$ & Big K.R.I.T ... both ahead of the release of his Blue Chips 2 mixtape, which is quite arguably his most cohesive body of work yet. While we're still patiently waiting for Action Bronson 's long-rumored VICE Records debut, tentatively titled "Mr. Wonderful," Spanish production duo Cookin' Soul recently concocted an unofficial remix of Dr. Lecter stand-out, "Get Off My P.P....

Jazz-Funk pianist Herbie Hancock is quite arguably the Godfather of Hip-Hop ; his 1983 Electro-Funk composition "Rockit" is oftentimes cited as an early sonic blueprint for the then budding genre. I can still vividly remember the first time I heard Hancock's music, on an RS 500 [Greatest Songs of All Time] sampler CD around the age of 12-15. It was "Watermelon Man" from his sprawling four-track Head Hunters album (1973) assisted by back-up The Headhunters ; more or less a progressive and slowly deconstructing re-make of Herbie Hancock 's own 1962 composition, which was originally inspired by "the cry of the watermelon man making the rounds through the back streets and alleys of Chicago . The wheels of his wagon beat out the rhythm on the cobble stones." President Obama & The First Lady amongst DC 's finest inducted Herbie Hancock , Martina Arroyo, Billy Joel , Shirley MacLaine, and Carlos Santana at the 36th annual Kennedy Center ...

So, it seems that D'Angelo is plotting one Hell of a Soulful comeback; After a self-imposed 12-year long [creative] exile, a new/old track has finally emerged - "Black Hole Sun." D'Angelo adds his signature honey-drenched vocal flourishes to the 90's Grunge Mega-Hit. There are minor audio send-ups to Michael Archer 's own go-to influences: Herbie Hancock , Jimi Hendrix , and Stevie Wonder . D'Angelo is no stranger to recorded covers... as he laid down a handful of soundtrack-appearing covers between his first sabbatical period (1996-2000): "Girl, You Need a Change of Mind," "She Always In My Hair," "Heaven Must Be Like This," and "Feel Like Makin' Love." This 2010 Soundgarden demo comes on the heels of the Occupy Music Tour (Europe) and nearly 97% complete album "announcement." ?uestlove recently said in an interview that "James River" is essentially the Funky , black step-brot...