The Witzard

Amerigo Gazaway is a Berkely, California-based producer, emcee, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ, who is known for his remixes/mash-ups, original instrumentals, and digital sampling. Gazaway is the son of internationally-known Jazz trumpeter, Gary "El Buho" (The Owl) Gazaway from The Ozark Mountains and Brazilian vocalist, Tatiana Mindlin; with his brother, Rickey Mindlin , Amerigo Gazaway formed The Soul Mates Project/Records as a vehicle to present his lush, conceptual collaborative efforts. Soul Mates are best known for their documentary-style conceptual collaboration albums, which have famously incorporated the music of A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, Fela Kuti, De La Soul, Marvin Gaye, Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def, James Brown, OutKast, and many, many more. Said critically-acclaimed remixes and mash-ups have garnered Amerigo Gazaway guest spots on releases from the likes of Aaron "Son Little" Livingston, Blu, and Oh No, as well as a gig re-orchestrating Miles ...

Esquire Classic 's nearly 4-minute "Tribute to The Greatest" mash-up was quietly shared by @EsquireClassic this past Sunday morning, June 5th, along with a striking image of recently deceased three-time World Champion Muhammad Ali sorting through a collection of dusty 45's in a 1960-70's car along with the caption, "Ali spins the platters that matter;" Esquire 's digital archival curator and editor Alex Belth composed the mix along with frequent collaborator Alan Friedman (aka illchemist ). "I see it as an extension of the curation I do with print on the [Esquire Classic] site," Belth wrote within an email, which contained a 20-song tracklist from which he and illchemist meticulously composed a Soul-Funk -evoking soundbed to underlay beneath an array of Ali's finest spoken word material and fight commentary. Miles Davis , The Temptations, Bob & Earl 's House of Pain-sampled "Harlem Shuffle," Bill Deal & ...

No matter, how old I get, Black Flag and The Neptunes (N*E*R*D) will always be amongst my first favourite artists. While I deeply love and appreciate their separate outputs, Pharrell & Henry Rollins are 2 of the last guys I'd ever figure would get along. With that said, Rollins and Pharrell get along like a couple reunited long-lost friends; Reserve Channel & Noisey recently uploaded a 2-part sit-down interview/conversation between the 2 prolific artists. Born and raised on the East Coast between DC and Richmond , Henry Rollins (52) and Pharrell (40) quickly bonded over the shared D.I.Y. nature of their Hip-Hip/Punk roots and early projects. Part 1, hosted by ARTST TLK , covers everything from Black Flag , weight lifting, the advent of Grunge , Regan -era tattoos, spoken word, sobriety, etc. Prenatal Hardcore fans should start out with Rollins' first Black Flag album, Damaged right on through to their sixth and final album, In My Head (1986). Might as we...