The Tuba Man of Jazz Music

When you think of jazz boppers, there's a set of instruments that come to mind: Trumpet, piano, sax, bass, drums, sometimes guitar, clarinet— the usual. What you may not be looking for is a Tuba. That's right.. One of those big ass honkin over-the-shoulder brass mammoths your ugly girlfriend played in high school. And as it turns out— a tuba actually does some good in hard bop.

Meet Draper... Ray Draper. Draper is the only hard bop tuba player. No, I don't mean Paul Chambers, who only dabbled with the instrument. Draper only played the tuba. This may have been a daunting addition for most composers to incorporate, which made it all the easier for Draper to form his own ensemble. But Draper was not the black sheep in the hard bop world— he shared the stage with greats like Jackie McLean, Donald Byrd, Max Roach, and even recorded an entire album with the legendary John Coltrane.

Oh, and guess what. You've heard of Jazz-Rock fusion? Draper invented it. His ensemble, Red Beans and Rice formed nearly 3 years before Miles Davis released Bitches Brew— often mistaken for the first Jazz-Rock fusion ensemble. So, not only was Draper a one-of-a-kind musician with his Tuba, but he also invented an entire subgenre of jazz. For this, what has he gained? Notoriety? Financial Stability?

Nothing, actually. Draper has largely been forgotten since his debut. He died after being shot by a 13 year old mugger. This was after a longtime struggle with heroin, which he had just kicked. Its a shame how the world can toss a talent like Draper around. However, it is not too late to appreciate what he has brought to jazz music. Go out and find yourself a copy of New Jazz 8228 and consider yourself informed.

Check out this 3 hour long mix of hip-hop from 1992, mixed by DJ Chief-One. Here's the tracks.

01. Intro/Kenny Dope - Justa Lil Dope
02. Lords of the Underground - Psycho
03. Funkdoobiest - Bow Wow Wow
04. Redman - Time 4 Sum Aksion
05. K-Solo - Letterman
06. Showbiz & AG - Party Groove
07. Naughty By Nature - Uptown Anthem
08. Heavy D & The Boyz - You Can't See What I Can See
09. Zhiggie - Toss it Up
10. Original Flavor - Here We Go (Fuck it Up)
11. Chi-Ali - Funky Lemonade (Remix)
12. Main Source - Fakin the Funk
13. Eric B & Rakim - Dont Sweat the Technique
14. Double XX Posse - Not Gonna Be Able to Do It
15. Grand Puba - 360 (What Comes Around)
16. Brand Nubian - Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down
17. Funkmaster Flex - Six Million Ways To Die
18. Black Moon - Who Got the Props (Smooth Version)
19. Gang Starr - Now You're Mine
20. EPMD - Crossover
21. Das EFX - They Want EFX (Remix)
22. House of Pain - Put Your Head Out
23. Fu Schnickens - La Schmoove
24. A Tribe Called Quest - Hot Sex
25. Apache - Gangsta Bitch
26. Brand Nubian - Love Me or Leave Me Alone
27. Funkmaster Flex - Sad and Blue
28. Nice & Smooth - Sometimes I Rhyme Slow
29. Brotherhood Creed - Hellova
30. Grand Puba - This is How we Move It (Remix)
31. Kenny Dope - Pick it Up
32. Young Black Teenagers - Tap the Bottle
33. The Pharcyde - Soul Flower (Remix)
34. Zhiggie - Rakin in the Dough (Uptown Bounce Beats)
35. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - They Reminisce Over You
36. Da Youngstas - Pass the Mic (Pete Rock Remix)
37. House of Pain - Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix)
38. Das EFX - Jussumen (Pete Rock Remix)
39. A.D.O.R. - Let it All Hang Out
40. Diamond D - I Went For Mine
41. Time Zone - Zulu War Chant
42. Lord Finesse - You Know What I'm About
43. Dr Dre - Deep Cover
44. Mobb Deep - Flavor for the Non Believes
45. Masta Ace Inc - Jeep Ass Nigguh
46. EPMD - Head Banger
47. Boogie Down Productions - We In There (ATCQ Remix)
48. Positive K - Nightshift
49. Chubb Rock - The Big Man (Clark Kent Remix)
50. Masters at Work - Blood Vibes
51. Nas - Halftime
52. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Ill Street Blues
53. Lords of the Underground - Funky Child
54. Arrested Development - Tennessee (Remix)
55. Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick
56. Heavy D & The Boyz - Blue Funk
57. Chi-Ali - Roadrunner (Puberty Mix)
58. Brothers Uv Da Blakmarket - Livin in Da Bottle
59. Showbiz & AG - Fat Pockets (Radio Remix)
60. Funkmaster Flex - Dope On Plastic
61. Gang Starr - DWYCK
62. A Trible Called Quest - Scenario (Remix)
63. MC Serch - Back to the Grill

Slum Village Strikes Back

Slum Village - Reunion pt. 2

Leaked track off of Slum Village's Villa Manifesto shows the pseudo return of Slum Village's original line-up. Since the classic Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 2 released, producer-rapper J Dilla and eccentric emcee Baatin have passed. This leaves surviving member T3. Elzhi, J Dilla's replacement after seeking a solo career, is absent since he wasn't part of the OG line-up. Instead of rehashing an old J Dilla verse, T3 enlisted Dilla's younger brother John Yancey, aka Illa J.

The track leaves a lot to be wanted. All three emcees are at uncertain crossroads in their lives at the time of this recording. Baatin was just recovering from longtime personal issues. T3 is struggling with maintaining the legacy of Slum Village. Illa J is trying to cope with the death of his famous older brother and defining his own career. Despite this, it is nice to hear something new from the group. Sadly, T3 and Elzhi have announced that Villa Manifesto will be the final Slum Village release.

Ninth Wondrah presents his 'house band'

Ever since 9th broke away from his Little Brother cohorts, he's really been putting in a steady effort to define himself as more than a flash-in-the-pan producer. I'll admit, I don't like any of his work with Murs; but I blame Murs for that. I'm excited to see that he's assembling this collective. However, as it is with most super-group collectives, there is a star member that will outshine the rest. I'm not so sure that will happen. Most production collectives are an assembly of complete unknowns, however, Khrysis has been producing for just as long as 9th has.

In the 70s Dub Specialist was a production collective for Studio One recordings. It was comprised of several dub reggae mixers, all of varying skill. However, by the close of the 80s, the collective had begun to wane as Scientist, the collective's star member, began to outshine everyone else. Throughout the 80s Scientist was regarded as the best dub reggae had to offer.

My point is this: Khrysis is working backwards. He's been around too long to accept a position like this. Listening to Little Brother tracks produced by Khrysis, I realize that he is equally as skilled as 9th Wonder. Consider this; would Michael Jackson have rejoined the Jackson 5 after the acclaim? No. So why should Khrysis be subjugated to that?

Fashawn - "Santiago's Revenge"

Fashawn is on his way to becoming the hardest working guy in hip-hop. Just last month he released Ode To Illmatic, his reworking of Nas' '94 classic, Illmatic. Now he's scheduled to release a new mixtape (part 3 of his Grizzly City series) next month. Recently leaked is the song "Santiago's Revenge" from the new mixtape. Fashawn rhymes over the beat to Gucci Mane's "Street Cred." I dunno... give it a listen. Especially if you like West Coast cats like Blu and Planet Asia.

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The Roach is Never Dead; Max Roach - Quiet As It's Kept

I found Max Roach long ago when looking for Jazz drummers. Lo and behold, he is the best I've found thus far. He accomplishes a swinging hard bop sound without relying always on a brushed snare; a rare treat. Albums like this are great for just about anything. Studying, driving around on a rainy day, hangin' in the park... you name it, it does it. I guess this love stems from back in the days when I would play pogs. Each cardboard circle (a pog) was essentially the same thing, just with a different cover. Aesthetically, jazz is quite the same. Instrumentation and playing style often remains consistent from album to album... essentially the only variable is the album art. This ain't so bad. I seem to be drawn to genres that have a heavy backbone. Boom bap hip-hop, 70's dub reggae, hard bop— all birthplaces for large collections. Its easy to classify this kind of music, and therefore easier to understand. If every album you heard was wildly different from every other, it would be impossible to hear certain subtleties.

Quiet As It's Kept is unfaithful to its name. Seldom is there any quiet playing. "Lotus Bloom" sounds more like a busy street than a quiet night by the lake. Regardless, its an interesting album. Max doesn't recruit a pianist this time around. But this doesn't serve as a handicap to Roach— I actually wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't trying to keep track of the instrumentation. Sadly, beyond Roach, I am wholly ignorant of the featured instrumentalists; the Turrentine brothers (sax & trumpet) or Julian Priester (trombone). However, Stanley Turrentine intrigues me. I'm having a hard time describing his playing. Cloudy? Can one cloudily play a trumpet? He certainly has a short drawback on his attack, waiting a millisecond or so extra to blow, giving the instrument a graduating toot. As you can tell, I'm very poorly versed in jazz nomenclature.

Of the three Max Roach albums I have, I am enjoying this one the most. I'd recommend giving it a spin while you're driving home after a late night coffee with some friends. Don't miss out on similar artists as well— Art Blakey sounds quite akin to Max Roach. Either way, don't be lame, give jazz a chance!