Singleversity #51

Audiversity’s weekly column on music we stumble across during our sonic adventures. No random numbers, just straight audio goodness.

MA:



J Dilla + Minnie Ripperton = soul-hop perfection. Tacked on to the long-delayed release of Slum Village’s debut/demo album Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1 (recorded 96-97, released 2005), "Look of Love (Remix)" comprises all of the best elements of the Detroit rap trio: Dilla’s sweet-grooved boom-bap, the off-the-cuff ruminations of Baatin and T3, the humbled basement-studio production quality and of course, the surprisingly terse and biting lyrical content despite a vibe that’s more Tribe than Snoop. Look no further for the seeds of the contemporary Detroit rap sound, not to mention the beginning of Dilla’s heralded career.

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I have the apartment to myself this weekend, but instead of partying it up with Hercules and Love Affair (which apparently tops Audiversity's hypothetical "Loved and Hated" list that Cokemachineglow recently ditched) or self-destructively drinking myself into a corner, I've been quietly relaxing for the most part to Florida-born, Philly-bred, Goddard College acting alum Archie Shepp and his 1977 release On Green Dolphin Street. The tenor sax maestro got his career going with Cecil Taylor in the early 60s and through "New Thing" collaborations with both Taylor and John Coltrane, Shepp made a name for himself that allowed him to explore more possibilities in the 1970s with everyone from Max Roach to his own Attica Blues Big Band. For a long time, the fastest way to Shepp was through the University of Massachusetts-Amherst's courses in "Revolutionary Concepts in African-American Music" and "Black Musician in the Theater," but he's retired since. With one of the lowest album ratings in Shepp's AllMusic guide, On Green Dolphin Street doesn't match his more forward-thinking release from '77 in Goin' Home. Doesn't matter to me. Sometimes it's nice to hear the title-track and understand why Shepp is so great without all the frilly ambition and prefix-addled self-importance of his groundbreaking works.