Customer Reviews

Nu Blaxploitation

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

An excellent new album by a musician who has found an innovative and original voice in the era of backwards-looking jazz. The album's extreme creativity that at once remains firmly steeped in the tradition of radical black music essentially makes jazz and funk once again relevant. Don Byron and Existential Dred keep it real.

Nu Blaxploitation is genius in the warm glow of collaberation. Those who critisize Do Byron because he wouldn't shut up and play his horn have ENTIRELY missed the point of this piece. Sometimes listeners hate "their" artists mixing thought and opinion with aural frequencies. Guess what? Musicians are not wallpaper. When I first heard the Byron treatment of " If 6 were 9" I stopped my car in rush hopur traffic,pulled to the side and listened in rapt amazement. MANGO MEAT is monsterous! If you don't want to hear the snippets of conversation, thats OK..just press fast forward..but to show respect for the WHOLE artist..LISTEN...thats all...just LISTEN. And TRANCEND.I, for one, have been evolved by this music and layering of thought music the power of humor and musical vision.
May The Purists be Damned.

Don Byron's latest album could be unfairly pidgeon-holed as a jazz album but it is really the thoughts of a global intellectual using music and spoken word as his outlet.

At times "Nu Baxploition" seems rather unfocussed and rambled, but it is actually securely centered in dealing with global oppressions and bringing discrimination, especially in its race based manifestations, into our at times shaded eyes.

His ability to mix contempoary issues with his jazz infusions make Don Byron and the Existential Dred a force to be reckoned with in the social change arena. I pray enough people listen to this CD and are taken, intelectually and emotionally, to some of the places that this collection took me. Check out "Morning 97 (Dodi)" and reflect on the real horror and disappointment surrounding the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed.

Don Byron is one deep individual; sometimes so deep that he might lose a lot of us in shallow waters.

One might be sceptical about an artist who has the guts to name his album Nu Blaxploitation. I mean, how can one nowadays get sounds equal to those early 70s black funk sounds? Well, Byron does it. Don't know how, but this is a serious 90s tribute to early seventies black rock and funk musicians. Especially check out the original tracks 'Alien', 'Blinky' and 'Furman'. The over ten minute live track 'Schizo Jam' also stands out.

I've seen Don Byron twice. Once doing Bug Music, another time doing material with Existensial Dred. This guy is brilliant. This album is so unlike his straight jazz stuff but so equally great. You cant pigeonhole this album-spoken word,jazz,funk... But if you dont want music that can be summed up in an easy explanation, this guy will blow you away.

Amazing album! Intelligent and provocative poetry on police brutality and racial exploitation, played over simmering jazz and powerfully played clarinet.

I applaud risk taking and innovation, and the idea of this album sounds great. However, the proof is in the listening, and from that standpoint this album leaves me cold. The social and political commentary is delivered in a condescending, smug attitude which I find disrespectful of the intelligent listener. The funk and jazz elements just do not come together in a compelling way. Must we listen to Byron eat celery while he talks--that's not cool, just bad table manners no matter if you are doing it on a hip, aware disc or not. The spoken word parts are indulgent in the extreme--who wants to hear this rather obvious pontificating more than once. This disc just does not make it, and I had hoped that it would when I heard the description.

Just skip over some of the poetry and enjoy 40 plus minutes of some great music.

I bought this CD hoping to hear some great clarinet playing by Don Byron. Unfortunately, the clarinet is rarely heard. Some of tracks are pure talking with no musical accompliment whatsoever.

I couldn't get past track 2. Save your money.