Customer Reviews

In Between

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I live in Los Angeles where the local NPR radio station KCRW plays a lot music you cannot hear on any other outlet. They have been supprorting Jazzanova since I moved out here five years ago, but with the release of In Between, it has become obvious that the d.j.'s over at KCRW (no program director's since its non-profit) are really in love with this release.

So I went online and listened to a couple excerpts and really liked what I heard. I bought the album. Now with that said. I noticed that the two negative reviews of this album below both judge the merits of this album based on previous work by Jazzanova. Now this is pretty silly from a rational standpoint, but most of us who become fans a particular musician are usually guilty of this. We like the artist for whatever reason if they go in another artistica direction, we often cannot be detach ourselves from our expectations and give an objective listen to the material. I think this is the mistake made by the two negative reviews below.

There is so much wonderful stuff to groove to in this album. I come more from an informed hip hop and jazz background so the world of electronica is something I am not very knowledgeable about. I know how difficult it can be to listen to someone gush about the genius of some guy who has gotten mainsteam exposure doing what is considered banal for his genre. So if this album by Jazzonova is par for the Electronica course than I can only kick myself that I did not find out sooner. But gut feeling is that it is a standout album and its diverse musical array probably puts it out of the context of one subgenre as there are influences from downtempo, broken beat, hip hop, drum & bass, soul, and of course jazz among other things. The album moves from all of these diverse styles fluidly and at the end of each track the listener is left wondering they should cue the track back to the beginning and stay in the lush sonic world they have just been experiencing or move onto to the next world that is often just as hypnotic and inviting. Its not a concept album and most of the tracks stand alone...but if there is a uniting concept the title captures it...These songs lay "In Between" the boundaries of all the sub genres of modern music.

Standout tracks for me inlcude:

The breakbeat deejaying shown on the first track (L.O.V.E. And You & I) is phenemonal. They even throw in a smidgeon of the breakbeat from the Hip Hop classic Time's Up by O.C. Although no steady groove is achieved throughout this song its definitely a head nodder as the BPM's speed up and slow down and the samples move through a slew of familiar and not so familiar territory

I find the drum patterns on the second track (No Use) to be a nice blend of complexity with just enough groove an backbone to hold you as you listen to the rich vocal arrangement (considering the apparent limited vocal abilities of the singer)

The sixth track (Mwela, Mwela) is pure fire. A dizzying drum track that has some Afro-Brazillian qualities...only starker which with some start/stop affects that punctuate the samples. The vocalists compliments the track well and I cannot decide if I like the movement featuring here or the vocal samples more.

Vikter Duplaix laces track 11 (Soon) wetting the listeners appetite for when we are finally going to here this guy's solo stuff (or at least the album he is workng on with James Poyser for BBE's Beat Generation Series). The synths on this one produce a trancey detroit techno kind of vibe. Very new to me anyway...but once again, I am uniniated in the world of Jazzonova

Serenity

About four years ago, Jazzanova formed in Berlin and released its first EP "Caravelle". The reaction was good, it had a smooth sound, long melodies, and shifting shuffling complex rhythms. Since then, the group has been its own cottage industry. Starting a music label (Jazzanova Compost Records), a multi-media artist collective (Sonar Kollectiv), five sublabels, several releases by members under different pseudonyms (Boskoe, Pathless, and Extended Spirit),a compilation of obscure Polish jazz, and a 2 disc set of remixes. The remix compilation received rave reviews, giving the group confidence to spend time on this album.

The sound here is a unique fusion of several musical modes. Stuttering hip-hop meet Brazillian beats, Jazz, Broken-beat, even techno synthesizers. A major hip-hop influence arises in the opening track "l.o.v.e. you & I" with classic break beats and recognizable melodies, with vocal samples on top. The group supposedly spent six months making that song. Two other tracks feature rapping on them, positive stuff, no bragging or obnoxious thug business. Unlike their remixes, several tracks feature full vocals, vikter duplaix is a talented vocalist who you may hear from in the future. The instrumental tracks are the group's strength. These qualify as jazz, but not the terrible stuff you would hear on your local "lite jazz" radio station. No unbearable saxaphone solos, absolutely no kenny g influence.

Of the 17 tracks, 5 are short interludes, most of the songs are five to eight minutes in length. The group uses the time to build up the tracks, complex drum patterns grow into the songs, and melodies are built up. The music here does not sound like it is based on samples, it's far too organic in timbre. This is definetly good for the patient listener, no song here is radio fodder. Recommended for someone who wants jazz that won't get beat up by other music.

To say that this music is a masterpiece in mediocrity is complete and total nonsense. The precise production of the music, the depth of structure in the instrumentation, and the fusion of sounds speaks clearly for itself. This music has nothing to do with 'trying' to do anything.
Jazzanova, six talented cats from Berlin, are recognized around the world for their continuous ability to transmit such innovation and technical precision in their music. Not only is the production precise, it is spiritually uplifting and inspiring. These points are recognized by individuals across the globe who dedicate their lives to music, such as the infamous Gilles Peterson,Jazzy Jeff and a host of other cats who will participate in remixing this music.
This music is blatantly exceptional,pooling exceptional artists from across the face of the planet, but don't take my word for it. RECOGNIZE! and listen.

This album took be by surprise, for I almost forgot that this six-man collective had released their debut album in 2002, after a collection of great singles tracks and remixes.

If you're expecting some kind of DJ Shadow knock off, click to RJD2. If you want to how how complex electronic-based music can be, purchase this. What I like is how they jump around throughout. If they wanted, they could easily take over the charts with the soul track "No Use", easily better than what is getting mainstream airplay these days. Then you have "Hanazono", a powerful jazz song where the tempo changes from 11/12 to 3/4 to 5/6 in less than five minutes, and it keeps on getting better. There are club songs, hip-hop, a bit of spoken word courtesy of Ursula Rucker (who always manages to educate and ridicule at the same time with finesse), among others. But this is a Jazzanova album, not a mere collaboration project, and one wonders why a group like this has not broken big in the States. Perhaps it's for the better, because one Jazzanova is better than ten other knockoffs. The intensity of this album builds and builds, and one is almost left out in the cold when the last song feels a bit anti-climatic. I think it was designed that way, as a way to repeat the experience over and over. For me, this went beyond my expecations.

I don't know what some of you people are smoking, but this stuff is great. I am familiar with some of the nu jazz stuff out there (Koop, Cinematic Orchestra, Ninja Tune in general...) as well as a little jungle/d&b and various forms of IDM and turntablism/sample collage. I am also an avid jazz listener/performer, so I can tell when someone is ripping off jazz and doesn't know what they're doing (which some djs do a lot). I got this Jazzanova CD a couple years ago and it remains one of the bright spots in my collection. Why is that? Well, i will tell you why.

You can mostly tell why by listening to the first song. It opens up quietly, with some samples spliced together to suggest some very original chords and something of a melody. The fragmented, stuttering, but still funk rooted drums come in. (Throughout the album, the drums can get very thick and complicated and cool but never go the way of d&b by doing things that sound completely artificial or mechanical.) The main theme of the song trades off with varying companion sections before it pauses, modulates, and goes into 9/8, making way for a literate vibes solo. The composition ends up being something a modern jazz musician would have been proud to have written, with a solo that is by no means simplistic.

Througout the album, the collective uses modern chords and slightly angular but still beautiful melodies to create a standard trip hop/nu jazz mood, utilizing a wide variety of vocalists and even including spoken word artist Ursula Rucker (along with a mediocre rapper). The sonic backdrops are never static or standard; the most standard song is No Use, but it is too beautiful to dislike. There are a few worthy instrumental guests as well, who usually get the most complex of the compositions. There are some interludes too, but they are not too bad.

The only missteps would be the bassline on Soon (which got remixed several times on the remix cd), and the almost unhip sheen of Takes You Back, but overall the cd is extremely tasteful, including the sensibilites of sample collagers like the Avalanches or Madlib, the harmonic knowledge of modern jazz musicians, the beat knowledge of any modern electronic act, and the vocal talents of any quality R&B act of the past decade. You owe it to all 8 of these guys to at least check it out.

I was just leaving Atlanta, driving back to Birmingham when I heard this hyper-electro jazz/funk tune "Soon" on WRAS 88.5. It blew my mind. Not since Talking Heads "Born Under Punches", and probably Billy Cobham's "Stratus", has a tune clearly lifted the face of funk for its particular time. These songs were jaw-drop striking-from the moment I first heard them. "Soon" had the same effect on me. Duplaix knows what he's doing. I would recommend this album to anyone who appreciates Weather Report, Kraftwerk, Jan Hammer, Talking Heads, Steely Dan, Spacek. Jazzanova "In Between" sounds like the sum/synergy of all the afore-mentioned musicians. Funk, jazz, hip-hop cutting edge. This is the funk that I hoped the future would bring.
This is the music of optimism: nu funk for a nu world. This is the funk NdegeOcello calls funky. Peace, Duplaix...Vikter Duplaix.

To those who say this album is no good, what exactly were you listening to? "In Between" contains some of the most precise and beautiful production I have ever heard. If you're not someone who frequently listens to jazz I wouldn't be surprised if you don't understand the levels of complexity on this cd, but you can't avoid the intense drum hooks and basses layered with synths and samples that make up jazzanova. Tracks like "No Use" and "Soon" have thick sweet sounding vocals that send shivers up your spine in the way that only truly genuine music can, while others such as "L.O.V.E. And You & I" and "Another New Day" use samples from very different songs meshed together to create new ones. This isn't your average "nu jazz" cd, it's something else very hard to define which is probably why people are having trouble accepting it. Get this cd, but it may take time before you can hear and understand everything it has to offer.

The name Jazzanova should in itself command the respect of music enthusists world-wide... Their production and creative skills in the studio and in clubs are world reknowned. Expect nothing less than fantastic work from these German producers. Do not expect to here the brazilian vibes defined by the jazzanova crew in their previous remix compilation. Instead, be prepared to be exposed to the next wave of sound undefinable and yet undeniably jazzanova. Their tracks on 'In-between' are varied in structure and style... enhanced by the fabulous collaborations w/ vikter duplaix, ursula rucker, and valerie etienne to name a few of the all-star cast members. unfortunately, the album does not include the 12" releases of to come and that night feat. the vocal maestro vikter duplaix. this album could have easily been a two CD set... i won't even begin to describe the remixes... but one listen will assure you that music is alive and well in berlin and beyond...

A MUST HAVE! BUY TWO COPIES. ONE FOR EACH EAR...

OK, so maybe I'm a simpleton when it comes to music, but it took me a few listens to get into this album. As a traditional jazz listener (not that Kenny G ..., but older stuff like Herbie Hancock Headhunters or something newer like Nicola Conte) who also likes some d&b stuff, the broken beats and complexity of everything mixed up on this took a while for me to get into - it didn't seem to be cohesive. However, having listened to it a few times the complexity began to make more sense to me, and I came to appreciate most of the tracks, track 5 especially, which had been one of my least favorite on the first listen. Having said that, I could do without the spoken word stuff, but thats just me. Now I'm at the point where I feel like this has been one of my best purchases of the last year. Give it a few tries and I think you'll like it.

I really like this cd, although I will agree with some of the reviews about the Ursula Rucker psuedo-rap that really didn't need to be included. It starts out with quiet sampling and turns into an explosive of lush and exotic riffs. One of the outstanding pieces of jazz on here is #5 Hanazono, followed by Mwela,Mwela (Here I Am) featuring one of the strongest vocalists around Valerie Etienne. I love the 'off key' vocal stylings of #12 Dance the Dance, and unlike another reviewer, I really got into 'Takes You Back'. I believe it was made not to be 'perfect', just a little off kilter. Well, that's it for me. I love this cd and I have made it a gift to several friends. If you love Jazzanova, this is a buy!