|
What kind of stuff did you get from the universities?
Man, I got all the [David] Axelrod [LPs]. All that stuff that's hard to
find. Half them cats weren't even playing that stuff. I'd stay up trying
to listen to radio stations and they don't play the stuffMy old university
had tons of records that no one would listen to.
Yeah, they don't even listen to the good stuff. I was trying to put it
to use for everybody Out here.
So back to Axelrod. What is it about his music that you like
so much?
I like it because it was all dark. It was always funky. It had that soul
in it. He'd do other stuff too for other artists. He's got a new album
coming out that's dope. I'm trying to be just like that. I want my whole
crew to be like that.
It's amazing how people still hear these old records and still
love them. Does that give you hope to know you may have that kind of longevity?
That's what I hope for more than anything. Hopefully, in thirty years
people will like my stuff. That's what I'm striving for.
When you listen to records are you always looking for beats?
Nah. I listen to music on the radio, I listen to music from mad crates
that I don't even dig from. I just listen.
Do you ever get that feeling where you hear something and you
know you're going to use it in a beat?
I don't really think about it. I can put a record on and make a beat in
five minutes. Just put whatever records I have on and do whatever. It's
like freestyle. Try to do it real quick.
What sort of stuff do you look for?
I try to get stuff that ain't too popular, like a lot of old independent
records, soul records. Rock. Stuff that people ain't really checking for.
I go out and buy noise or whatever., rock, classical. I ain't dug in no
country yet, but everything else.
When you go digging, what are some of your favorite labels to
look for?
I like Cobblestone. Prestige. I like Embryo-Herble Marin was on there.
Roy Ayers was on there with his early stuff. I like Blue Note. Warner
Brothers. Too many.
Hearing that list makes me think of your song "Jazz Cats,
Pt. 1" where you list some of your favorite jazz artists.
That song is just one little part. There's like six parts to that. That's
the first one. There's some mad names I didn't mention.
Like who?
There's too many. Lester Young, Lee Morgan, Anthony Williams, Elvin Jones,
Eddie Henderson. I could name all night. I'm letting people know to buy
some of that stuff. Some of the names I mention, maybe some cats wilt
peep them.
There's so many young cats out there who don't get jazz. What
is it about jazz that speaks to you?
I don't know. It makes me feel good. The tones, the metodies, and stuff.
Different styles.
You grew up with music all around you.Yeah. My dad was a musician. That's
all I knew. That's all I did since I was young. Messing around with stuff,
turntables and shit.
What kind of records did your father play on?
Like, old R&B, 16os, '7os stuff. He did a lot of his own material.
Independent stuff Basically, like what I'm doing now. But he worked with
H.B. Barnum who knew cats like the Temptations, the Whispers.
Your uncle is Jon Faddis. Did you spend a lot of time with him
growing up? [ Jon Faddis bio ]
He was always working, but holidays we always spent time at my grandparents.
He came down with Dizzy one time. I was battling with Dizzy Gillespie
eating gumbo. We was battling to see who could eat the most.
Has Faddis inspired you?
That's why I'm doing these jazz albums [Yesterday's New Quintet]. To show
him I can do that too. I was trying to get him on this album, but he was
so busy, running around different countries. He's got a new album coming
out and he's touring everywhere.
Note: this interview is edited down from its full text in Wax
Poetics.
Jon Azpiri is a freelance writer from Vancouver, Canada.
He divides his time equally between covering sports and music and has
written for SLAM, Inside Stuff, The Source, XXL, Seattle Weekly, and the
Vancouver Sun.
Wax Poetics Church Street Station, P.O. Box 3288, New York,
NY 10008.
|
