Dayne Jordan x Jazzy Jeff - "Soul Brothers"

I got a lot of respect for Philly's legend  DJ Jazzy Jeff, both as a DJ and as a producer. He's excellent at creating both smooth soulful rap, R&B or hardcore hip-hop and his cuts is just ridiciolous. His new protogé is a young emcee, also hailing from Philadelphia, that goes by the name Dayne Jordan (which I guess his birth name as well). Jordan's been touring extensively with Jazzy Jeff the last year or two and on numerous ocassion they have hit up studio, indicating that na album might very well be in the works. The young emcee and sometime singer sound HUNGRY and his hype voice is a perfect match for the soulful rhodes, horns and bass strumming that Jazzy Jeff concoctes for him, a long with some real thumping beats and excellent turntable work (see "Play Dat!" for a great example of their chemistry).


The first song I heard and posted from this young brother was "All About The Art", a Jazzy Jeff prduction featuring James Poyser and ?uestlove on live instumentation, and already there I was hooked. I feel that his music is much needed when other artists from his generation makes straight plastic bullshit music. You can see the beautiful "Lost" featuring the strong voice of Ebony Joi up top, accompanied by the music video directed by Christopher Schafer. Stay tuned for more info on this ill cat and hopefully we'll see a Jazzy Jeff / Dayne Jordan full-length collabortion soon enough. Stay tuned for more info and music and visit DayneJordan.com/.

DAYNE JORDAN - "I Want It All" (w. DJ JAZZY JEFF)

Young soul singer Dwayne Jordan is the new protogé of the fantastic DJ Jazzy Jeff and as they have already released a gang of "superior" singles, I really hope these guys get down for a full LP worth of material. In case you missed it b4, be sure to check out the preceeding single "About The Art", produced and performed by Dwayne (vocals), James Poyser (keys), ?uestlove (drums) and DJ Jazzy Jeff (sampler / turntables).

[EP] PETE ROCK & JAZZY JEFF on The Boardwalk

Wow, I can't believe how I managed to miss this crazy remix project as it combines three of my favorite topics - the musical talents of two of my all time favorite DJ:s/producers, JAZZ, and HBO's mindblowing "Boardwalk Empire". Released in September 2013, "Sounds of the Onyx" (named after the club Chalky White runs in season 4) combines six major 1920's big band tunes heard on the show with the remix skills of some of hip-hop's finest; namely Pete Rock, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Om'Mas Keith, Shafiq Husayn, Jayceeoh, and Tall Black Guy. I guess I'm not the only one who slept on this release so be sure to stream and/or grab it below if that's the case, because this is pretty great. Especially Pete Rock's take on New Orleans jazz band Vince Gioardano & The Nighthawks' "Sugarfoot Stomp" swings like a motherfucker!

As for the future of "Boardwalk Empire", HBO has renewed the series for a fifth season to start airing this September. Unfortunately it will also be the last one, and rumours (which I hope are false) speculates about this season only having eight episodes rather than the usual twelve!

[DJ Set] DJ Jazzy Jeff @ The Do Over L.A. (5.19.2013)

There's no question that DJ Jazzy Jeff is not only one of the most legendary spinners in the game, but also one of the very best. Mr. Townes has posted his 1 hour plus DJ set that went down in LA's The Do-Over club roughly a month ago, and there's nothing but fire on here; Everything from hip-hop classics, to forgotten R&B jams, soul and funk bangers, the occassional pop groove, you name it. Jeff definitely know how to get the crowd going, and for this particular set he shares the stage with Skillz who perform his Master of Ceremony duties with grace, acting mainly as a hype man but spitting the occassional exclusive verse here and there! And like that wasn't enough The Do Over have also uploaded full DJ sets of DJ Rob Swift and DJ Rhettmatic for your enjoyment, so if you got a few hours free turn in, tune up, and prepare yourself for a musical journey! 

Moonchild - "Free" [Jazzy Jeff / James Poyser Remix]

Producer and DJ Jazzy Jeff, and pianist and beatsmith James Poyser are two of the greats, yet somewhat underrated when it comes to both hip-hop and soul productions. Moonchild is a relatively new soul trio who's releasing their debut album "Be Free" (stream @ their Bandcamp). What's really interesting however, is that the title track has been remixed in collaboration by no lesser musical giants than DJ Jazzy Jeff and James Poyser to create a soulful, piano driven and rhythm progressive take that should be heard by any fans of these Philadelphia musical maestros. Click here if you can't see the player below.

[Article] THE BEAT GENERATION

The top producers in the hip-hop game are just as equally important to the culture and the music as the top-notch emcees in the industry, something that the British based label BBE (Barely Breaking Even; distributed by Rapster Records) understood. From 2000 to 2008 BBE released several outstanding albums in their Beat Generation Series; a series of albums showcasing one producer or a production crew for each album. Kicking things off things with Jay Dee’s classic “Welcome 2 Detroit”, an extraordinary musical dive into Detroit hip-hop, twisted house music, bossa nova, jazz, funk, and much more. In a similar matter DJ Pete Rock released an equally stunning, but mainly, instrumental disc; “PeteStrumentals” featured new mixes of unreleased instrumentals from Pete's vaults dating as far back as 1990-1995, sprinkled with a few emcee cuts by the likes of The UN, Bumpy Knuckles, Nature and CL Smooth. 

 
All in all ten albums were released in the Beat Generation series before BBE calling it quits, and a vast majority of them was straight up incredible. DJ Spinna’s “From Here to There” was an exceptional release and probably the most diverse album out the bunch (possibly only with the exception of King Britt’s "Adventuures in Lo-Fi"). Even Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am dropped a really good album that might have fans of the old B.E.P. fans satisfied, (though Fergie followers might more than likely use it as a beer holder or a flying frisbee). You also got solid releases by DJ Jazzy Jeff: “Return of the Magnificent” and 2002’s “The Magnificent”; the latter released under Jeff Townes name although it's really an album by his production crew Touch Of Jazz, as Jeff only produced about half the record. The last piece of the puzzle was not surprisingly Madlib’s stunning solo album for the label, “King Of The Wigflip” that still gets heavy rotation over at my place and in my iPod.

I would love to see The Beat Generation series continue for a long time, many of the absolute top notch producers in the game has had an entry in the BBE canon, but there’s plenty of more that I would love to hear. But you take what you got, and recently some of the original albums has been re-issued in 2xCD packages, often including all instrumentals, acapellas and new and very informative linear notes. As if that wasn’t enough, Spinna and Mr. Thing have just released a banging mixtape highlighting the best out of those 10 discs that’s definitely worth a spin. Read more about this and the rest about the projects on The Beat Generation's site.

As a little bonus I added the Jay Dee produced Slum Village joint from the aforementioned Jazzy Jeff / Mr. Thing mixtape - a song that originally was cut from "The Magnificent" despite it having appeared on a promotional sampler from the album that was released shortly before the actual retail release. If you don't own that mix, maybe this is new to you - and it's a definite must hear. If you still don't got the Beat Generation series, I strongly recommend you to pick up at least the majority of the albums; if you're a fellow beat head like myself I doubt you will be the least dissapointed in 90% of these releases. So pick them up one after another unless your name's Ingvar Kamprad and let BBE take you a journey of quality beats, strong rhymes and musical styles you might not expect from these A-list producers. On behalf of Jazzy Jeff / Mr. Thing and their recent mixtape –and in the words of Jay Dee – “TURN IT UP!!”
 
JAZZY JEFF / SLUM VILLA - "R U READY"

[Mixtape] DJ Jazzy Jeff - "Life Colors"

Legendary DJ Jazzy Jefff has hooked up with clothing company LRG (and Complex) to bring this late summer mix to the masses. "Life Colors" is an ecelctic mix of vastly different styles, mixing artists like J. Cole, The Pharcyde, Santigold, Ginuwine, BBD and many more. In other words this one hour set is filled with reagge, hip-hop, electronic, R&B and more, all of Jazzy Jeff's choice.

Jazzy Jeff Ft. Senor Kaos - "Peter Piper" [J.M.J. Tribute]

 Celebrating what would have been the veteran DJ Jam Master Jay's 47:th birthday yesterday, Funkmaster Flex dropped his ill 30 minutes set celebrating the legend and now DJ Jazzy Jeff and Senor Kaos hook up with eachother for another tribute; their take on the classic Run DMC cut "Peter Piper" that originally appeared on Mick Boogie/Jazzy Jeff's mixtape "My Adidas (A Tribute to Run DMC) last year. Senor Kaos is holding it down on the mic while Jeff is killing it on the turntables as well as providing the beats so you can bet on this being a certified sureshot, Don't hesitate, check it and pay your tributes to one of the true pioneers.

JAZZY JEFF / SENOR KAOS - "PETER PIPER"

DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ayah remix "Notorious"

Philly's finest, DJ Jazzy Jeff, is equally dope at producing quality hip-hop, sweet soul music and cutting up on the turntables like there's no tomorrow. Most recently he hooked up with beautiful soul singer, Ayah, and released the free (and dope!) album "Back For More". The remix to one of the songs on there, "Notorious", has been given the remix treatment with new verses from Freeway, Tona and Dosage. While the beat stays the same, this remix is all for the win!

JAZZY JEFF / AYAH - "NOTORIOUS RMX" (Ft. Freeway, Tona & Dosage)

DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ayah's "Back For More"

It's time for some sweet, relaxing, vintage soul music on The Lost Tapes as veteran DJ Jazzy Jeff and his new protogé Ayah unleashes their collaborative effort "Back For More". This is of course far removed from the computer generated, dead music passed off as soul and R&B on commercial radio and MTV these days. Personally this is a project I've been waiting on for quite a while now as you might've noticed from the multiple posts on it. Anyone who's familiar with Jazzy Jeff knows that he's equally capable of creating amazing jazzy hip-hop and incredible straight soul joints; and from what I've heard so far the beautiful voice of Ayah is a perfect match for Jeff's blend of hip-hop and soul.

A little suprisingly, "Back For More", has been made available for free download via Bandcamp and who can complain about that? The 13 tracks are all produced by DJ Jazzy Jeff and features vocals by Ayah, but there's also contributions in the beat section from James Poyser (The Roots) and Demien DeSandies plus guest verses from S.T.S. (Money Making Jam Boys) and Tona.

01. "Press Play"
02. "Back For More"
03. "Notorious"
04. "One Life" (Ft. Tona)
05. "Hold On"
06. "Make It Last"
07. "Forgive Me Love"
08. "Tables Turn"
09. "Maybe We Can Just" (Ft. S.T.S.)
10. "Telephone"
11. "Baby"
12. "The Game (Somebodies)"
13. "Be Alright"

DJ JAZZY JEFF & AYAH - "BACK FOR MORE" LP

DJ Jazzy Jeff / Ayah debuts single

Legendary soul and hip-hop producer DJ Jazzy Jeff's project with the sweet singing Ayah is finally coming to fruition. Ayah is a new artist in this game so it's good to see a veteran like Jeff Townes handing his production skills to an up-and-coming singer to together create beautiful and modern soul music.

Early last year the duo released a teaser EP (which also included several snippets besides the five full tracks) called "This Way". Now it's time for their full-length album together, which is titled "Back For More". The full-length project will be available for free download on July 12 and I wouldn't mind purchase this in LP or CD format. The first single from the project, "Make It Last", has also been made available for free download and also has guest apperances STS and Toronto emcee Tona.

JAZZY JEFF & AYAH / STS / TONA - "BACK FOR MORE"

Sweet soul w. DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ayah

 The Lost Tapes is usually not the blog where you'll find some sweet soul music suitable for some romance with your women or to just put on to relax. There's not much classy soul being made these days but once in a while you'll hear something that really grabs your attention. Such is the case with Ayah, a relatively new female artist, with a truly sweet singing voice. DJ Jazzy Jeff is of course a pioneer, a true hip-hop legend and an impeccable producer/DJ and following his brilliant "The Magnificent" albums, his new project is a collaboration with the aforementioned Ayah.

Their collaborative full-length album is called "Back For More" and will be available to the world on July 12, and is definitely on my watch-list. Jazzy Jeff is one of the producers who handles jazzy hip-hop and straight soul music with equal grace and the songs I've heard so far sounds promising.

The project has been in the works for quite a while now as I remember hearing about it sometime last year when also a 5-track EP called "This Way" was released on the net. Since then I kinda forgot about the whole thing, until I saw the new video, "Notorious", posted on OnSmash today. I can't find the video on YouTube right now so I'll have to link to OnSmash below and I'm also adding the "This Way" EP (which also features 7 additional snippets besides the 5 full songs) via Jazzy Jeff's official site.

DJ JAZZY JEFF & AYAH - "NOTORIOUS" [VIDEO]

DJ JAZZY JEFF & AYAH - "THIS WAY" [EP + SAMPLER]