Us3

Us3's broad and colorful palette includes jazz-rap, acid jazz, trip-hop, neo-soul, and more, created with sample-based production, live instrumentation, and an array of rappers and singers. Originally led by the production duo of Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson, they scored a global hit with "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" (1993), a Top 25 single in their native U.K. that also reached the Top Ten in the U.S. and elsewhere. Both the parent album, Hand on the Torch, and its follow-up, Broadway & 52nd (1997), saw release on Blue Note, the pioneering jazz label that also allowed the group to sample from their extensive catalog. Although Simpson left before the second album and Blue Note exited the picture after its release, Wilkinson ensured that Us3 simultaneously retained their identity while continually moving forward with five albums issued in the 2000s alone. These were highlighted by Schizophonic (2006), on which Wilkinson guided a live band while working with new voices and a turntablist. After two albums in the 2010s, Wilkinson was sidelined by a major health ordeal, but after a prolonged period of recovery, he became a prolific producer of library music, and reinstituted Us3 with Soundtrack (2025), an entirely instrumental LP that brought together trap beats, inspiration from the likes of Gil Evans and Quincy Jones, and an 18-piece horn section.Geoff Wilkinson picked up his first credit in low-key fashion by producing "Where Will We Be in the C21st," a 1990 white-label 12" by MC Honey Bee. The next year, under the name NW1, Wilkinson, and Mel Simpson -- an established session and touring keyboardist, as well as a fellow producer -- were behind "The Band Played the Boogie," issued on Ninja Tune. Featuring rhymes from Born 2 B and saxophone by Ed Jones, the latter of whom became one of Wilkinson's long-term associates, the track sampled Grant Green's version of "Sookie, Sookie," a vintage Blue Note recording, without legal clearance. Blue Note threatened to file a lawsuit, but the matter was resolved after Wilkinson persuaded the label to sign him and Simpson and allow them to raid the catalog for more material, as well as a new alias. Referencing Us Three, a 1960 Blue Note recording by Horace Parlan, Wilkinson and Simpson took the name Us3, and in July 1993 entered the U.K. Top 40 with the "Sookie, Sookie"-sampling "Riddim" (aka "Tukka Yoot's Riddim," acknowledging the track's featured voice). The single reached number 34. Us3 were back on in the Top 40 in September with "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," sampling Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloup Island" (as well as the intro to Art Blakey's A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1) and featuring trumpeter Gerard Presencer and rapper Rahsaan. Originally issued before "Riddim," "Cantaloop" first charted at number 76 and gained much more traction with its reissue, peaking at number 23 while providing Us3 with their international breakthrough. It became a number nine hit in the U.S. and was similarly successful across Europe and Oceania. Parent album Hand on the Torch saw release in November 1993. It yielded the additional singles "I Got It Goin' On" (featuring Kobie Powell) and "Eleven Long Years," and eventually sold over two million copies worldwide.Assisted by Jim Hawkins instead of Mel Simpson, Wilkinson used more live instrumentation and subtler sampling methods -- and showcased rappers KCB and Shabaam Sahdeeq -- on the second Us3 album, Broadway & 52nd. Issued in April 1997, the LP was highlighted by the lively "Come On Everybody (Get Down)," Us3's third Top 40 U.K. hit. Us3 moved to the Universal-distributed EmArcy for their third album, 2001's An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place, a less sample-oriented set co-produced by JC Concato. Wilkinson then went independent in 2003 with Questions, a set that avoided sampling in favor of played and programmed elements, and showcased singer Mpho Skeef, making it the most R&B-oriented Us3 recording. Schizophonic and Say What!?, issued respectively in 2006 and 2007, brought in rappers Akil Dasan and Gaston. Extensive touring and semi-annual Us3 albums continued with Stop.Think.Run, Lie, Cheat & Steal, and The Third Way incorporating everything from lean and hard-hitting hip-hop to Afrobeat. Wilkinson brought in Brook Yung and Sene to the first of those three albums, and the second one showcased Oveous Maximus and Akala. The Third Way acknowledged the 20th anniversary of Hand on the Torch and was presented as a sequel with Tukka Yoot, Dasan, and KCB all contributing.In 2014, Wilkinson suffered a heart attack and multiple cardiac arrests. After a medically induced coma, he spent several weeks in intensive care and underwent an extended period of recovery. Years later, after he had considered himself done with making music, he got back into it, built a new studio, and became a prolific composer and producer of library music licensed to advertisements, television, and film. Some of the material saw commercial release under his own name. Wilkinson eventually reactivated Us3, and in 2025 returned with Soundtrack, an appropriately cinematic-sounding instrumental LP that creatively combined trap-styled production techniques and jazz orchestration.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo