Friday Night Jazz boss nova
I’ve only come across a handful of compelling discs this year. Mo’ Horizons …And the New Bohemian Freedom is one of them.
It is hard to describe this bizarrely compelling mix of acid jazz, bossa nova, soul, and electronica. Yeah, there is also some Brazilian funk in the mix as well. But the songs, while somehow seeming musically related, are all very different.
No two songs are very much alike.
The first track that caught my attention was the ethereal Shake It Loose. I heard it somewhere (Starbucks?) and it was an ear worm — a musical virus. A base riff repeats over and over, followed by bongos and then an organ riff, and lastly, a drum pattern. It builds up in layers and is coolly hypnotic. A few chords later, you almost have a melody.
Couldn’t get it out of my head.
Starting from that cut, the least latin influenced on the whole CD — the music careens all over the map. Drum’n Boogaloo is a piano driven mexican riff, complete with horns and Ayiiis!
So Ma Guisee uses a Spanish guitar riff as its backbeat, and then turns into straight up soul. African Sunset goes 1970s retro. And so on.
This is going to be a polarizing musical pick — I suspect some people will love it, others hate it. I have been enjoying it since early this summer.
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October 23rd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
pleasant background music
don’t hear any acid jazz, plenty of electronica
nice beats and rhythms
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:30 pm
try this…Brasil music mixed with some jazz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhlAfIKulzs
wayne shorter and milton nasciemento, awesome (and maybe long for some) alto sax solo at 1:45
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 pm
….probably soprano sax
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm
well BR-
interesting to discover Mo’ Horizons is a German band-
not bad- the singer reminds me of Sade from the 80’s-
you are about my age- so you must remember her and the band by the same name-
but if not- here is a reminder-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efdfGeUKXuU
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I dig it!
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
ahab! everyone knows Sade, she’s amazing! i’ve never seen that old video.. wow. Oops, Lover’s Rock is 9 yrs old.. somehow, somewhere I lost a decade.
Anyway, this Mo’Horizon’s stuff is good.. on itunes, i’ve never seen so many songs given full popularity, album after album. i’ve gone thru 3 so far and love every one..
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
New Way Out West in 4 days: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Machine-Way-Out-West/dp/B002N5KVFO/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I8FSJNZ64WV67&colid=2R53GGBKRXCE5
Old Way Out West: http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Look-Now-Way-West/dp/B0002IQJL4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256352809&sr=1-2 (Still awesome after 5 years)
and still waiting on the new Hybrid Album
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBF53Mz0FoI
October 24th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Love it! If you’re into this stuff, Barry, check out Gilles Peterson’s show on BBC Radio 1 (most recent show on-demand) or Giant Step’s on-line jukebox which has many, many old shows of his archived. The Giant Step jukebox (giantstep.net) is an absolute treasure, but has a terrible user interface. If you’re looking for the radio shows go to “Jukebox” then “Music” and finally “Channels.” There’s enough quality music there to last you months. Forget Pandora and Last.Fm.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:02 am
Haha, cool clip, Chris !
When it comes to German synths, I’ll stick to Kraftwerk, thank you, Barry.
But she can sing pretty good. I didn’t see her on the facebook page tho, just the two nerds.
If you like German nerds, try Yello, altho they’re Swiss.
Free Legal Latin music here: http://www.jamendo.com/en/tag/latin
October 24th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Wanted to let you guys out there know about this spectacular Electronica, Trip-Hop, Jazz act I have just recently seen. Brooklyn based project J.Viewz. They have recently added cutting edge Audio Visuals to their show, (as shown in the videos below) which features the late and incomparable Nina Simone – using the new Serato Video-SL technology.
http://www.vimeo.com/6555003
The music is a masterful melding of Electronic, Jazz, Reggae, and Breakbeat for which the band has garnered numerous awards.
Next show is at the world renowned Blue Note in NYC on Friday, Nov. 6th, 2009 just before midnight.
http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=7457
October 24th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Barry,
If you like Mo’ Horizons, then there are several other artists you should check out: S-Tone Inc., Soulstance, Banda Favela, and Rosalia da Souza (among others) all of whom are based in Italy. They are on the Istar, Schema, or Irma labels. Another group I’d recommend are Bossacucanova (who are actually based in Rio) who mix electronic beats with Brazilian classics. I hope you find something you enjoy.