 Jan Hammer is most known for his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and for helping to define a genre with the Miami Vice Theme Song. His keyboard work spans over 50 years, and his compositions can be heard on over 14 original motion picture soundtracks.
“Don’t You Know” was released in 1977 on Nemperor Records and distributed by Epic. It’s an underrated track featuring the tasty drumming of Tony “Thunder” Smith, as well as some wonderful vocal performances by bassist Fernando Saunders. “Don’t You Know” falls somewhere between Jazz Fusion and Electro Funk and is one of those hidden gems that at one time was considered contemporary, maybe even cheesy, but is now cherished.
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 I’ve been following Triptides after I first heard their Predictions album in 2013 and my ears have been pleasantly rewarded with each of their following releases.
Formed in 2010 in Bloomington, Indiana, they’re now based in Los Angeles where they continue to craft wonderful retro sun-bleached psychedelic sounds. Their latest effort Visitors is released through the French Requiem Pour Un Twister label and, may be their finest release yet.  In 1986 I brought home a 12’ single by Eric B and Rakim. To be honest, I didn’t really like it at first. I found the rapper’s nasally voice intriguing and the samples tasty, but I couldn’t escape the cheaply sounding keyboard basslines and thin production (they didn’t have access to equipment yet). Less than a year later their first full length album hit the shelves and my mind was blown.
“I Know You Got Soul” was one of my personal favorites. It’s a homage to the 1971 Bobby Bird single and helped introduce James Brown’s music to a new generation. And in a time when Rap and Hip-Hop music were being criticized for their lack of talent or musicality, this was a track you could proudly point to. Paid in Full is one of the finest Hip-Hop records ever made and it didn’t leave my Walkman that year. Singles like “I Ain't No Joke,” “I Know You Got Soul,” and “Paid in Full” were instant classics. It’s a fantastic record that helped define the “Golden age” of Hip Hop and one that artists from today could learn something from.  Columbus Day is tomorrow and as I reflect on the complex history of the United States and what this day eventually came to signify, I was drawn to a musical artist who might be best suited to represent it.
Louis Prima was born in 1910 to Italian immigrants and raised in a working-class neighborhood in New Orleans. It was there that he was exposed to Louis Armstrong, and the African American music that would change his life and the face of the recording industry. From 1929 until 1975 he broke stereotypes, crossed cultural lines, and in a time when the record companies frowned upon “ethnic” music, Prima insisted on singing in Italian, ignoring financial pressures. He was also an exemplary musician and performer whose career encompassed Swing, Jump Blues, R&B, Boogie-Woogie, Rock-N-Roll and Folk. “Oh Marie” is from his 1956 release The Wildest. It was his first album with Sam Butera and his backing musicians “The Witnesses.” The album also featured his 4th wife and costar Keely Smith, whose deadpan delivery and underrated performances were mainstays on his recordings and on the road. The Wildest embraced Rock-N-Roll and Jump Blues, featuring one of Prima’s signature songs, “Jump, Jive, an' Wail.” Prima was a firecracker of a personality and he represented Italian Americans with humor, wit, talent and integrity. He was also a product of this amazing melting pot, or in his case, a gumbo of soul. |
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