Of All the Things

Jazzanova

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 21, 2008)
• Original Release Date: October 21, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B001FBJTYQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,961 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #33 in	Music > Jazz > Acid Jazz
  #67 in	Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Germany
  #87 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Trip-Hop

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Mentored by Giles Peterson, the six member Berlin-based DJ collective Jazzanova has created a compelling fusion of musical genres on their 2008 studio album, Of All The Things. Jazzanova has built a strong and loyal following among DJs, musicians, and music fans around the globe. They have leant their talents to a diverse roster of artists including Lenny Kravitz, Common, Azymuth, and Calexico. Jazzanova set out to compose an album that is interconnected, composing each track, recording live vocals and instrumentals, selecting and creating samples from tracks already created for this album. Featured vocalists include Leon Ware, Dwele, Phonte, Paul Randolph, Ben Westbeech, Jose James, and more. Jazzanova is: Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler, Jrgen von Knoblauch, Roskow Kretschmann, Stefan Leisering, and Axel Reinemer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A soulful nod to the past, October 24, 2008

By	Mark T (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This may not be what you expect. So check out their myspace page to preview a few tracks from this disk...

The unifying sound here harkens back to the mid-seventies--lush strings and horns, energetic beats, itchy guitars, soulful harmonies and soaring lead vocals. Some may feel that this more closely resembles Gnarls Barkley than previous Jazzanova disks, but this album could have come from no one else. A sensitive ear will recognize the Jazzanova sound buried deep within the mix. But this album isn't so much about the Jazzanova sound. It's about the songs. And the songs are wonderful--with terrific performances and fine writing.

And while this may lack some of the in-your-face dynamics and energy of the remix albums or the "In Between" CD, this new offering has a heart and soul unlike anything Jazzanova has ever done before.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beyond chillout and electronica. There's Soul!, November 21, 2008

By	Potente - See all my reviews

Wikipedia: "Jazzanova is a German Berlin-based DJ/producer collective consisting of Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler, Jürgen von Knoblauch, Roskow Kretschmann, Stefan Leisering, and Axel Reinemer. Formed in 1995, the group is one of the foremost proponents of the nu-jazz, chillout and jazz house styles of music associated with record labels such as Compost Records and Sonar Kollektiv".
Best known for their more electronic and jazzy dance tracks, Jazzanova make more of a soul album with a full sound and featuring vocalists Jose James, Bembe Segue, Clara Hill, and Ben Westbeech amongst others.
Where their last record "In Between" was more of a electronic offering, "Of All The Things" is packed with 70's soul, Brazilian bossa and jazzy ballads that provide immediate satisfaction.
Among the many highlights is "Let Me Show Ya", a song that is simply love at first listen. This is classic soul music at its best and the voice of Paul Randolph is smooth, rich and passionate. The same track gets sampled and reworked into a hip-hop track entitled "So Far From Home" that is performed flawlessly by Phonte of Little Brother.
"Lucky Girl" a nice shuffler and Leon Ware guests on a cover of his own "Rockin You Eternally".
On the jazzier side the breezy Brazilian shuffler "Gafiera", performed by Pedro Martins & Azymuth will delight you.
"Morning Scapes" is an excellent combination of sultry vocals and live instrumentation, particularly Magnus Lindgren's performance on flute. Jazzanova delivers an outstanding disc that delivers one great track after another.
Jazzanova does retro Soul! (and a little Jazz too!).
Something rather different for these talented Berlin based DJ/producers.
And it works.
Overall: a strong, delightful album !
In Between

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whopper of an album., November 20, 2008

By	Charley Sylver "Sylver" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

To think this has been put together by a bunch of German guys... I mean what could they possibly know about Soul or Funk. Jazzanova are great at Electronica and Acid Jazz, but when you hear this you're gonna wonder why they haven't been making Soul all along.
This is one incredible album.