In Praise Of Compilations and Some Warm Weather Beats

  • In Praise Of Compilations and Some Warm Weather Beats
    POSTED


    In this day of iTunes and streaming services it’s become somewhat de rigeur to say “the compilation is dead”. It’s not a view I really hold with. After all, most people can’t cope with a larger than life record collection, let alone “all the music you can eat”. We are all bewildered by things we don’t know and no one in their right mind can select selectively from too much or from a lot of songs that they’ve never heard of. It’s certainly true that the services do whatever they can to supply playlists wherever they can, but its clearly true that within each and every service it’s the hits that people turn to (whether they be chart hits or hit new albums). Yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing!

    And that’s why I’ve always liked to buy compilations, even when everyone else went rare groove/original crazy and spent pots on dusty old original 7"s and old school 12”s. It’s a strategy I still recommend. Partly, I felt I got more from my money, partly I felt  that it was the music that mattered not whatever it was played off, but mostly because I quite enjoyed taking myself and trusting the mind of the compiler. You picked your compiler and your theme and your type of music, and more often than not you found a gem you didn’t know about in the middle of the pack. 

    The series that got me started on this way of thinking was a gem called Jazz Juice on the legendary StreetSounds label (home of the equally wonderful Classic Electro). It ran to 8 selections and a lot of joy.

     

    image 

    This was a collection of jazz for the dancefloor (yes there was a time when jazz was played in hip London clubs like Soho’s Wag) compiled by the DJ supreme and rare record wizard Gilles Peterson.

    To be truthful, in those days I knew not much at all about jazz except the odd name like Miles Davis. In short, what most people know. But I did know it was cool and I liked it. And behind all the beards and the Fast Show (Jaaaaaazz … hmmmm … Niiiiice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezbJkZouXX4) jokes it was actually quite fun. And I had no snobbish preconceptions to impair my enjoyment. So it didn’t even occur to me that in jazz world eyes some of these artists were secondary names and even lightweights. I just dug the sounds. And even more when they were spun with a decent bass on a club size PA (which happened most weekends at a pub near me). 

    So when I discovered the Gilles sponsored/ invented sub-genre of “Dodgy Bossas’ through this series of compilations it didn’t really feel like a musical “guilty pleasure” but more like a valid collectors trip. A road of discovery even. Little did I know that most of the artists he selected were on the fringes of jazz and not considered “serious” at all. They seemed fun, and were fun, and these tunes have stuck in my collection as much as Coltrane, Rollins and Davis ever have. 

    Now summer is coming and I thought that a perfect time to dust off a few of the guiltiest little dodgy bossas and share them around. Something to cheer the people up and get a little hip shaking action going. So pour yourself a spiritual cocktail and let yourself shake and fingerpop to the bossa beat:

    Jon Lucien - Who Will Buy

    Yes it is the theme song from Oliver-The Musical done latin style! And a great singer not everyone knows.

    Duke Pearson/ Flora Purim – Stormy

    Great soul jazz pianist and arranger. Great Brazilian singer. Great song. Really this one isn’t even a guilty pleasure, just proper jazz on Blue Note.

    Sivuca - Aint No Sunshine

    Stevie Wonder gets madly samba’d. Check out that beard.

    Eydie Gorme (Blame It on) The Bossa Nova

    The bossa craze of the 60s went everywhere. And here’s an irrestistible combination of old school  showtune singer & cocktail party Mrs Robinson style swinging dancefloor wickedness with a really squeaky organ tweak.

    Marcos Valle -Crickets sing For Anamaria

    A Brazilian legend in a slice of vocal chorus’d old school naughtiness.

    And just to show how cool it all was even the King got involved:

    Presley on swinging Tippie & the Clovers cover. Complete with great “elvis the pelvis” hip moves. Watch the clip for Austin Powers style with wildly great tux and cool chicks fighting over him. This kind of thing is my bag, baaaaby!

    Gilles remains my favourite selector and every radio show he plays features a new or old classic to go out and find. Never ever make the mistake of thinking he’s too head nodding to bother with. He will drop science on you.

    But unlike him (as he has a house dedicated to housing his original vinyl) I still buy a lot of compilations (in every genre). These days I particularly like Artist’s choice type series where musicians put up songs that helped form their sound (take a bow “Late Night Tales”) as they select by sound not label, but every week there’s a good one (also take a bow the Ace Records Songwriters series). I get excited about them like they were new releases (the new Black jazz DJ sets for example). DJ mixes are good too if you pick carefully (Bugged In by Erol Alkan anyone?) as they come with a selectors sound. DJ’s like songs they can call their own which is good so they find rare ones.  I watch for the ones that collect the uncollectable (heavy props to Personal Space – a killer collection of off kilter private press synth R&B - and the like) or the genre time forgot where you know the hits but not the rest (Soul Jazz Lovers Rock and Delta Swamp Rock). I like ones where they include a rarity (well done Nuggets Down Under for digging out a rocking long version of The Sunsets – Hot Generation). I don’t care that as I buy them they are destroying the value of someone else’s record collection (apparently – though I’ve often hunted down the original album after a compilation). I don’t think that I can do them myself on Spotify or make them up myself on itunes. I don’t ever ignore mixtapes people give me even if they seem to know less about music than me – all you need is one song that I didn’t know or that I had undervalued (thanks Jarrad and Eagle & The Worm for the Latin Playboys!).  I am buying other people’s patient (and expensive) crate digging, other people’s wisdom and knowledge, other peoples ears and taste. I am letting myself into their world or into the world they chose to curate. And almost all of them have a track or two I want and a couple of tracks I picked up and love that I’d never have found otherwise. Those are the ones that enrich your iPod or take you on a journey to other music. So I buy them just on the off chance that gems like these cheeseballs above might turn up.  Maybe it’s an approach to record buying that’s worth your consideration? Less elitist, more music loving!

    Also maybe there’s a theme to start here … my favourite compilation? Who knows, but don’t we all have one? Why not share it and let us know the key tracks?

    [Gilles Peterson remains one of the world’s greatest selectors. Check out his Masterpiece compilation on Ministry Of Sound for a flavour of Gilles old and new mixed over 3 discs,  or his radio show on 6 Music which is re-listenable too for 7 days after each broadcast and full of classics. Jazz Juice1-7 are long since deleted so its Ebay if you fancy them. I recommend them beyond highly whatever you need to pay. (Re)Compile the originals yourselves off the download services – you can find Gilles tracklists easily online]

    (and for those of you who like a little latin go to https://www.emilyjones.ca/ and download this sweet playlist – and her others

    BOSSA NOVA GARDEN PARTY (RIGHT CLICK SAVE AS FOR DL)

    (and for those of you who like a little latin go to https://www.emilyjones.ca/ and download this sweet playlist – and her others)

     

    1. Don Payne - Carribean Sunset

    2. Jacqueline Boyer - Il Fait Gris Dans Mon Coeur

    3. Simonetti Con La Orquesta - Cinta Amarilla

    4. Breno Sauer Quarteto - Sambossa

    5 Charlie Rouse - Back to the Tropics

    6 Sergio Mendes & Bossa Rio - Neurotico

    7 Milton Banana Trio - Estamos Aí

    8 Quartet Tres Bien - Boss Tres Bien

    9 Cannonball Adderley - Minha Saudade

    10 Laura Villa - Rosinha

    11 Joe Harnell - Cry Me A River

    12 Tamba 4 - Reza

    13 Vince Guaraldi Trio - Samba De Orfeu

    14 Dick Farney Trio - Someday My Prince Will Come

     

    153271
Submitted by Site Factory admin on




In this day of iTunes and streaming services it’s become somewhat de rigeur to say “the compilation is dead”. It’s not a view I really hold with. After all, most people can’t cope with a larger than life record collection, let alone “all the music you can eat”. We are all bewildered by things we don’t know and no one in their right mind can select selectively from too much or from a lot of songs that they’ve never heard of. It’s certainly true that the services do whatever they can to supply playlists wherever they can, but its clearly true that within each and every service it’s the hits that people turn to (whether they be chart hits or hit new albums). Yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing!

And that’s why I’ve always liked to buy compilations, even when everyone else went rare groove/original crazy and spent pots on dusty old original 7"s and old school 12”s. It’s a strategy I still recommend. Partly, I felt I got more from my money, partly I felt  that it was the music that mattered not whatever it was played off, but mostly because I quite enjoyed taking myself and trusting the mind of the compiler. You picked your compiler and your theme and your type of music, and more often than not you found a gem you didn’t know about in the middle of the pack. 

The series that got me started on this way of thinking was a gem called Jazz Juice on the legendary StreetSounds label (home of the equally wonderful Classic Electro). It ran to 8 selections and a lot of joy.

 

image 

This was a collection of jazz for the dancefloor (yes there was a time when jazz was played in hip London clubs like Soho’s Wag) compiled by the DJ supreme and rare record wizard Gilles Peterson.

To be truthful, in those days I knew not much at all about jazz except the odd name like Miles Davis. In short, what most people know. But I did know it was cool and I liked it. And behind all the beards and the Fast Show (Jaaaaaazz … hmmmm … Niiiiice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezbJkZouXX4) jokes it was actually quite fun. And I had no snobbish preconceptions to impair my enjoyment. So it didn’t even occur to me that in jazz world eyes some of these artists were secondary names and even lightweights. I just dug the sounds. And even more when they were spun with a decent bass on a club size PA (which happened most weekends at a pub near me). 

So when I discovered the Gilles sponsored/ invented sub-genre of “Dodgy Bossas’ through this series of compilations it didn’t really feel like a musical “guilty pleasure” but more like a valid collectors trip. A road of discovery even. Little did I know that most of the artists he selected were on the fringes of jazz and not considered “serious” at all. They seemed fun, and were fun, and these tunes have stuck in my collection as much as Coltrane, Rollins and Davis ever have. 

Now summer is coming and I thought that a perfect time to dust off a few of the guiltiest little dodgy bossas and share them around. Something to cheer the people up and get a little hip shaking action going. So pour yourself a spiritual cocktail and let yourself shake and fingerpop to the bossa beat:

Jon Lucien - Who Will Buy

Yes it is the theme song from Oliver-The Musical done latin style! And a great singer not everyone knows.

Duke Pearson/ Flora Purim – Stormy

Great soul jazz pianist and arranger. Great Brazilian singer. Great song. Really this one isn’t even a guilty pleasure, just proper jazz on Blue Note.

Sivuca - Aint No Sunshine

Stevie Wonder gets madly samba’d. Check out that beard.

Eydie Gorme (Blame It on) The Bossa Nova

The bossa craze of the 60s went everywhere. And here’s an irrestistible combination of old school  showtune singer & cocktail party Mrs Robinson style swinging dancefloor wickedness with a really squeaky organ tweak.

Marcos Valle -Crickets sing For Anamaria

A Brazilian legend in a slice of vocal chorus’d old school naughtiness.

And just to show how cool it all was even the King got involved:

Presley on swinging Tippie & the Clovers cover. Complete with great “elvis the pelvis” hip moves. Watch the clip for Austin Powers style with wildly great tux and cool chicks fighting over him. This kind of thing is my bag, baaaaby!

Gilles remains my favourite selector and every radio show he plays features a new or old classic to go out and find. Never ever make the mistake of thinking he’s too head nodding to bother with. He will drop science on you.

But unlike him (as he has a house dedicated to housing his original vinyl) I still buy a lot of compilations (in every genre). These days I particularly like Artist’s choice type series where musicians put up songs that helped form their sound (take a bow “Late Night Tales”) as they select by sound not label, but every week there’s a good one (also take a bow the Ace Records Songwriters series). I get excited about them like they were new releases (the new Black jazz DJ sets for example). DJ mixes are good too if you pick carefully (Bugged In by Erol Alkan anyone?) as they come with a selectors sound. DJ’s like songs they can call their own which is good so they find rare ones.  I watch for the ones that collect the uncollectable (heavy props to Personal Space – a killer collection of off kilter private press synth R&B - and the like) or the genre time forgot where you know the hits but not the rest (Soul Jazz Lovers Rock and Delta Swamp Rock). I like ones where they include a rarity (well done Nuggets Down Under for digging out a rocking long version of The Sunsets – Hot Generation). I don’t care that as I buy them they are destroying the value of someone else’s record collection (apparently – though I’ve often hunted down the original album after a compilation). I don’t think that I can do them myself on Spotify or make them up myself on itunes. I don’t ever ignore mixtapes people give me even if they seem to know less about music than me – all you need is one song that I didn’t know or that I had undervalued (thanks Jarrad and Eagle & The Worm for the Latin Playboys!).  I am buying other people’s patient (and expensive) crate digging, other people’s wisdom and knowledge, other peoples ears and taste. I am letting myself into their world or into the world they chose to curate. And almost all of them have a track or two I want and a couple of tracks I picked up and love that I’d never have found otherwise. Those are the ones that enrich your iPod or take you on a journey to other music. So I buy them just on the off chance that gems like these cheeseballs above might turn up.  Maybe it’s an approach to record buying that’s worth your consideration? Less elitist, more music loving!

Also maybe there’s a theme to start here … my favourite compilation? Who knows, but don’t we all have one? Why not share it and let us know the key tracks?

[Gilles Peterson remains one of the world’s greatest selectors. Check out his Masterpiece compilation on Ministry Of Sound for a flavour of Gilles old and new mixed over 3 discs,  or his radio show on 6 Music which is re-listenable too for 7 days after each broadcast and full of classics. Jazz Juice1-7 are long since deleted so its Ebay if you fancy them. I recommend them beyond highly whatever you need to pay. (Re)Compile the originals yourselves off the download services – you can find Gilles tracklists easily online]

(and for those of you who like a little latin go to https://www.emilyjones.ca/ and download this sweet playlist – and her others

BOSSA NOVA GARDEN PARTY (RIGHT CLICK SAVE AS FOR DL)

(and for those of you who like a little latin go to https://www.emilyjones.ca/ and download this sweet playlist – and her others)

 

1. Don Payne - Carribean Sunset

2. Jacqueline Boyer - Il Fait Gris Dans Mon Coeur

3. Simonetti Con La Orquesta - Cinta Amarilla

4. Breno Sauer Quarteto - Sambossa

5 Charlie Rouse - Back to the Tropics

6 Sergio Mendes & Bossa Rio - Neurotico

7 Milton Banana Trio - Estamos Aí

8 Quartet Tres Bien - Boss Tres Bien

9 Cannonball Adderley - Minha Saudade

10 Laura Villa - Rosinha

11 Joe Harnell - Cry Me A River

12 Tamba 4 - Reza

13 Vince Guaraldi Trio - Samba De Orfeu

14 Dick Farney Trio - Someday My Prince Will Come

 

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