Backtracking Forward: 180 Grams Of Soul-Jazz
posted in: Features
Jazz is a genre of music that has undergone remarkable evolutions since its inception. Swing, big band, bop, freeform, modal, latin, fusion, the list continues on and on. In the mid to late 1960s and well into the 1970s, a troupe of jazz musicians fueled a style of music that grabbed its influences from blues, gospel, soul and funk and dubbed it soul-jazz. Cats like Ivan Boogaloo Jones, Lockjaw Smith and Grant Green helped nourish the genre as it favored more organ heavy arrangements with fatter drums and repetitive guitar. Presently, heads are turning and clamoring for that crisp 60s soul-jazz groove and “Boogaloo Bob & The Bricks” have it down to a science. Today’s 180 Grams of Soul-Jazz post looks at a talented artist who can’t be pigeonholed into one genre, whose tastes draw heavily from an array of performers who were kings on vinyl decades ago and who excels at showing his jazz chops all the while incorporating a smattering of influences ranging from garage rock to 60s soul to down and dirty funk.
The allure of Boogaloo Bob rests heavily on the music he is creating. He does not have an album in circulation, he is not touring the European states building a fanbase and even admits on his profile, My voice is as ugly as my face. Yet this humble and off-the-radar instrumentalist”hailing from Freiburg, Germany”plays with chops as big as many of his heroes on wax. The music is gritty yet his performance and skill level is impeccably clean. He captures the right tone, quality and feel of those vintage recordings found on so many of the soul records he inherited from his father.
So who are the Bricks? According to his Myspace page, the Bricks constitute a smattering of like-minded friends who help Bob achieve the raw and pure sound he is striving to record. Various computers, loops and samples seem to find their way into the mix as well, culminating in music born of blood, sweat and microchips.
“Got To Have Soul” is a righteous and noxious blend of early ’70s funk, soul-jazz, garage rock and R&B all whipped together in one package. The fury of the drums and the rage of the guitar create such a powerful force that it would knock the needle right out of a record groove. The breakdowns on this track are absolutely mind-blowing, causing any dance floor to quiver under the weight of shuffling and stomping feet. Despite his use of technology to help construct the song, its inclusion is concealed as a result of Boogaloo’s flawless production.
Boogaloo Bob throws all his cards on the table as he slams down a winning combination of bona fide funk and soul-jazz on “That’s It I Quit.” A hint of organ and some tasty licks on the guitar murmur with occasional abruptness in the background, letting the horns and drums set the tone of this number. The recording is so loud and clean, one could easily mistake it for a live performance, perhaps blowing the minds of an unassuming crowd of Schwarzwaldians tucked away in Germany.
Hanging out on the OurStage instrumental charts is the elaborate scorcher, “Times Like These.” So many of Bob’s influences are illuminated on this track” the drums and guitar are soaked in raw rock and roll while the organ maintains that smooth soul-jazz groove with a sometimes funky, sometimes jazzy horn arrangement. Clocking in at only 3:42, the song is so densely packed with ridiculous rhythm and mayhem that one feels Bob could tease this cut out into an extended 12-minute-long, JB’s style jam.
Unlike his other tracks which bring the raunchy and gritty sound of the guitar to the forefront, “Rollyerhipnashakeyerboogaloo” features a raucous romping of piano, horns, bongos and drums all meshed together as Bob casually tickles away some light and airy jazz licks in the background. Part George Benson, part Ramsey Lewis and a whole lot of jazzy soul, Rollyerhipsnashakeyerboogaloo just earned an accolade for being in the Top 10 of OurStage’s Jazz Charts for March of 2010, and is back in rotation to try and make it to Number 1!
Once again, this writer is pleasantly reminded about how amazing it is to have the ability to connect with people and their music all around the world via platforms like OurStage. Not only has Boogaloo Bob gained a stalwart fan of his music but this vinyl collector has been reaffirmed that his addiction to wax is truly part of a global epidemic that the digital monster will never squelch.
Keep Digging!
-Gregorious-