Perfectly Deep Weekly #66:
DJ Dex, Waajeed, Black Jazz Consortium
Dear <<First Name>>
This newsletter edition zooms in on the musical merge between two unlikely siblings, namely the genres of techno and jazz. With diverse origins, although not completely disconnected, the two genres are rarely fused. However, whenever they are, the results are often really interesting.
Especially in the birthplace of techno, Detroit, this hybrid has been explored by some of the genre's originators. Hence, it is the specific theme today.
In any case, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did putting it together.
Keep it deep,
Christian Villum
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DJ Dex - The Beat #22 / Underground Resistance is High Tech Jazz, 18/03/2016 (2016)
The Beat Radio Show
Tags: #hightechjazz #jazzyelectronica
One can not dive into the origins of techno music and not get acquainted with Underground Resistance, a music collective, orchestra, activist group, and record label hailing from the birthplace of techno, Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. A cornerstone in the city's local scene and one in the global history of electronic music.
Underground Resistance, commonly referred to as "UR," was founded as a platform for uncompromising music geared toward awareness and change in the early 1990s by second-wave duo Jeff Mills and "Mad" Mike Banks, two of the most iconic names in techno history. Mills as one of the planet's most sought-after techno performers and DJs, even today, and one that keeps innovating the genre: For instance, by collaborating with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra - and Banks as a Detroit stable which, as UR headman, is still producing, touring, and mentoring new artists onto the scene.
Later, the group added a third techno originator, producer Robert Hood. Like Mills, Hood continues to be a bill headliner at massive electronic music events worldwide, in his own name and under various monikers, like in the duo Floorplan (with his daughter, Lyric Hood).
In the early days of techno, UR was the first superstar band of the techno genre, with its members rising to popularity both as solo artists and together in the group. Later, Mills and Hood exited UR formally to pursue their solo careers full-time, and Banks went on to direct the band as a full-fledged live orchestra with live instrumentation and, over time, a broad roster of shifting members. This, in particular, initiated the flirtation with jazz, as the inclusion of new classically trained musicians introduced experience and technical proficiency within this genre.
Under the moniker Galaxy 2 Galaxy, Banks and fellow UR members recorded an album by the same name in 1993, where they coined the term 'high tech jazz' to label the techno-jazz fusion. That album, by the way, was reviewed in Perfectly Deep Weekly #41.
The mix I have chosen here is crafted by one of the later members of UR, DJ Dex. Dex, also known at times as Nomadico, is a prolific artist and remixer in his own right. Aside from playing a significant role as a band member in UR, he has also released solo works on Underground Resistance (the group's label), Submerge Recordings, Los Hermanos, Transmat, Motech, and True Type Tracks, to name a few. His current focus is expanding the library of his own Los Angeles-based record label, Yaxteq.
In this mix, he has compiled a selection of high-tech jazz tracks from through the times including contributions by Mark Flash, Soul Designer, and Timeline feat. Jon Dixon & De'Sean Jones as well tracks by UR and himself.
UR's impact on techno cannot be overstated, and to this day, it remains one of the most prolific acts and brands in modern electronic music. This is partly because of the timeless music they have issued but also their political message and activist ethos. As one biographer put it, they "adapted the flavor and kick of early Detroit techno to the complex social, political, and economic circumstances in the wake of Reagan-era accelerated inner-city decline [of Detroit]."
Mixcloud
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Waajeed - Memoirs of High Tech Jazz (2022)
Tresor Records
Tags: #jazzyelectronica #hightechjazz
"A history lesson," as it is said in the opening track, Waajeed's 'Memoirs of High Tech Jazz' is an ode to the high-tech jazz genre and its development over the years. Freshly minted, as it came out just a week ago, it was the prompt for me to take on the techno/jazz fusion in this newsletter. As seen via the Bandcamp link below, the promotion video that follows it sets the vibe perfectly and is well worth a watch to get into the right mood.
Initiated by a couple of short track snippets, the album starts properly with the third track, 'The Ballad of Robert O'Bryant.' Offering a strong horn section, highly hip-hop-inspired drum programming, and a slow yet groovy bassline, it represents Afro-American culture on many levels. That is also a central theme in the press material, which reads that the album is "inspired by revolutionary efforts against oppressive hegemonies in Detroit and Black locales worldwide. (...) The album celebrates Black leisure and play, the mundane joys that persist despite the depleting realities of the world."
'Motor City Madness' follows; a more uptempo deep house track that continues the elegant horn emphasis and a highly danceable bassline and rhythm section. A peak-time floor filler for any deep house set, for sure.
'Let's Give It Up (feat. Archpriest Rev. Wanika K. Stephens and De'Sean Jones)' continues the uplifting atmosphere with compelling synths, stabs, and a playful saxophone by Jones (who also plays a role on the other album in this newsletter.) On top of that, the vocals from Stephens make it one of the album's high points.
I really enjoyed 'Right Now,' an energetic, deep, house track with a punchier techno bass drum. It centers around a set of piano and saxophone, which, despite the high tempo, gives it a jazzy feel. 'The Dub' is also a beautiful track. Featuring trumpets, a clarinet, and a saxophone, in playful interplay, on top of a high-pace drum machine kick drum and housey piano chords, it's everything the high-tech jazz connoisseur could ask for.
Waajeed, whose civil name is Robert O'Bryant, is a Detroit-born music producer who is also a founding member of the triphop/electronic act Tiny Hearts, and one-half of the hip hop and R&B combo Platinum Pied Pipers. In 2002, he established the Bling47 record label, which has released music by Waajeed, the late hip-hop legend J Dilla, and other artists. Another label of his, Dirt Tech Reck, saw the light of day in 2012 as an outlet for his Tiny Hearts compositions. A label that Detroit techno mastodon distribution service Submerge distributed.
Waajeed studied art and DJed in and around the Detroit music scene before making tracks. Back then, he was a hip-hop photographer who, among other things, created the covers for Slum Village's seminal "Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1)" and "Fantastic, Vol. 2" albums.
Later, he got into producing, working with prominent names like Cee Lo Green and John Legend, before releasing music as himself. As a solo artist, he hovered more towards electronic music, and his music became darker, although he is quoted saying that he still seeked to inspire optimism. His first solo outing was a mixtape titled 'The War LP,' which grouped his own instrumental tracks with those of Detroit acts like Invincible and Jay Dee.
In the following years, he would produce over 25 EPs, singles, mixtapes, and a couple of albums. I would argue that the pinnacle comes in the form of this album, which comes out on the esteemed Berlin label Tresor Records, which we've featured here on several accounts.
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Black Jazz Consortium - Codes and Metaphors (2013)
Soul People Music
Tags: #jazzyhouse #deephouse
By some, Black Jazz Consortium's music has stylistically been compared to the rock genre of shoegaze, which is known for its highly organic, even slightly careless execution. Resident Advisor put it eloquently when writing that "the ever-present haze of gauzy vintage keys and inside-voice drumming that Black Jazz Consortium favors conjuring a soft focus that's at the heart of what are, more often than not, wonders of groove-based introspection."
To me, this quote is also a description of jazz music in general and especially the improvisational nature of it, and this is what Black Jazz Consortium brings to the techno genre. An organic and human feel, with all of the subtle nuance and nano-detailed inaccuracy that entails, to the otherwise machine-induced precision of electronically created sound.
Behind the moniker stands a grand figure in electronic music in general and house music in particular: Fred P. Fred Peterkin, as is his real name, is a Brooklyn-born, now Berlin-based, producer with a lifelong musical passion since being a kid, and his own work bears the indelible mark of his broad understanding of soul, jazz, disco, hip-hop, and electronic sounds.
Since the middle of the 2000s, he has released several albums, EPs, and singles under the names FP-Oner, Black Jazz Consortium, and himself. Deep organic bass, synchronized live percussion, and roomy synth pads are common elements in Fred P's music, and this album, from his Black Jazz Consortium moniker, is no exception.
The album starts with a light and uplifting opener, 'Free Your Mind,' a deep house track with jazzy percussion and beautiful vocals by a female vocalist named Minako. Full of floating synth pads, the track has a hypnotic quality. It is followed by 'Melody of Key,' a classic Detroit house track that is largely beatless until halfway through, where a subtle kick drum is introduced in support of its intriguing arpeggiator motif.
'Love Is' is a dark track stretching over 7 minutes. It is built over a curious 4/4-beat that shuffles now and then. It features whispery and subdued vocals by Malena Pérez which offer pretty much the only variation in the otherwise relentless and highly minimal track.
'Kleem' is worth highlighting as well. Featuring a piano riff with clear jazz references, as well as a compelling bassline groove and vocal fragments, it has an airy feel to its house music sound. The following track, 'Science and Art,' also relies heavily on jazz structures and a piano-driven melody that bounces elegantly across the drum programming and swerving synth pads which use a strong LFO stereo effect to explore the musical space between the speakers.
I am particularly fond of 'Your Love,' a super deep house cut that evolves slightly during its 8-minutes runtime. The bassline is quintessential deep house as we've come to love it from Detroit and Chicago, and dreamy vocals by 'Lady Blaktronica', soaked in reverb and echo, give it the final touch of perfection.
'Amazing' also warrants a closer listen. Driven by a harder kick drum, bordering into techno, the track features a discofied bassline akin to the likes of legendary Giorgio Moroder on tracks like Donna Summer's disco-orgasmic 'I Feel Love.'
The album comes out on P's label, Soul People, an imprint used by Petersen to release his own music as well as that of other select artists, including, of particular interest, Brendon Moeller, a dubby techno and house producer we've touched upon earlier in this newsletter when reviewing Echocord's 20th-anniversary release (in Perfectly Deep Weekly #20.)
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