SATCHMO

#34 A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

....And what I immediately heard was this:



There have been a few attempts in the early history of hip hop that have attempted to reconcile and blend the genre with its Jazz ancestry. Many if not most of these attempts have been abject failures. a couple of more memorable attempts that come to mind are the abysmal Guru's Jazzmataz and Us3's Hand on the Torch.

Its not that neither of these albums, or the various other attempts at fusing jazz with hip hop weren't noble efforts, its just that it seems there's a sort of alchemy involved in the process of mixing the two, and if all the elements aren't in the right place the whole thing blows up in your face like a failed lab experiment.

Here we have A Tribe Called Quest from Queens New York. Composed of MCs Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, as well as DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammed, Tribe's sophomore LP A Low End Theory from the beginning upright Bass note From legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter on Excursions to the frazzled and amped anthem Scenario featuring one of the first public appearances of Bustah Rhymes, swings and shows a very balanced blend of Hip- hop and Jazz elements all tastefully executed throughout.

There is much use of wonderful jazz samples throughout the album (see the itemized list below), predominately they can be noticed in the rock bottom acoustic bass lines that hold this album together as well as the horn sections and solos that punctuate and accent nearly every song. Also present are musical interludes, I hesitate to say "solos", that actually allow the music to resemble in structure that of actual jazz albums.

Musically this album has aged well, but because of the degree to which hip-hop has evolved in the past 18 years their are some lyrical spots that beg you to keep this album within the context of the time in which it was produced.

Sample List:

* "Excursions"

The Last Poets - "Time"
The Last Poets - "Tribute to Obabi"
Shades of Brown - "The Soil I Tilled For You"
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - "A Chant for Bu"

* "Buggin' Out"

Jack DeJohnette - "Minya's the Mooch"
Lonnie Smith - "Spinning Wheel"
Michael Urbaniak - "Ekim"

* "Rap Promoter"

Eric Mercury - "Long Way Down"
New Birth - "Keep On Doin' It"
Sly & the Family Stone - "Stand"
Jimi Hendrix - "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"

* "Butter"

Eighties Ladies - "Turned On To You"
Chuck Jackson - "I Like Everything About You"
Gary Bartz - "Gentle Smiles"
Weather Report - "Young and Fine"

* "Verses from The Abstract"

Joe Farrell - "Upon This Rock"
Heatwave - "Star Of A Story"

* "Show Business"

James Brown - "Funky President"
Fatback Band - "Wicky-Wacky"
Martin Denny - "Midnight Cowboy"
Ferrante and Teicher - "Midnight Cowboy"

* "Vibes and Stuff"

Grant Green - "Down Here on the Ground"

* "The Infamous Date Rape"

Jackie Jackson - "Is It Him Or Me?"
Cannonball Adderley - "The Steam Drill"
Les McCann - "North Carolina"

* "Check the Rhime"

Average White Band - "Love Your Life"
Minnie Riperton - "Baby, This Love I Have"
Grover Washington, Jr. - "Hydra"
Steve Miller Band - "Fly Like An Eagle"

* "Everything is Fair"

Bobby Byrd - "Hot Pants... I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming"
Funkadelic - "Let's Take It To The People"
Harlem Underground Band - "Ain't No Sunshine"
Willis Jackson - "Ain't No Sunshine"

* "Jazz (We've Got)"

Five Stairsteps - "Don't Change Your Love"
Sly & the Family Stone - "Sing a Simple Song"
Freddie Hubbard - "Red Clay"
Lucky Thompson - "Green Dolphin Street"
Mountain - "Long Red"

* "What?"

Paul Humphrey - "Uncle Willie's Dream"

* "Scenario"

Emotions - "Blind Alley"
Kool and the Gang - "Give It Up"
Kool and the Gang - "Soul Vibrations"
Ohio Players - "Ecstasy"
Brother Jack McDuff - "Oblighetto"
Jimi Hendrix - "Little Miss Lover"