The Jazz Jousters :: Take 5.2 with Dave Brubeck :: Millennium Jazz
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon
![[Take 5.2 with Dave Brubeck]](../coverart/jousters-Take52.jpg)
I'm going to state in advance that the format of this review can't and quite
frankly won't let itself to giving Dave Brubeck his proper due. If we were to talk about the scope of his
musical creations and innovations from the 1940's up until his death in 2012
we would frankly not have any time left to discuss this album paying homage
to his work. Let it suffice to say that in jazz music he was a literal one
in a million talent, a piano player beyond measure, and that the list of
awards he received is exceeded only by the discography of works he recorded.
If the term "cool jazz" has any relevance to you, Dave Brubeck embodies it,
and there's little question you've heard a Brubeck sample on one of your
favorite rap songs without even knowing it.
You'd expect a group named "The Jazz Jousters" to be fans of his work, but
that doesn't really begin to tell you who they are. Even after doing my due
diligence for this review though there's still an air of mystery about them
and that may be quite purposeful on their part. What I can ascertain as fact
is this: they are an international collective of producers who challenge each
other to come up with the most innovative ways of sampling, interpolating,
chopping up and reinventing jazz tracks. You can think of them as an extension
of the late Keith Elam's philosophy
about combining two arts that were uniquely culturally black in jazz and
hip-hop and creating something beautiful through the intersection of arts
already bonded in blood. Other than that I can only tell you that their
founder's name is Gadget, and that dating back to June 2012 they've recorded
FORTY-SEVEN(!) albums. These Jousters never get off their horse.
The name "Take 5.2" is a tribute to The Dave Brubeck Quartet's signature song
"Take Five"
and the album itself was released on the fourth anniversary of his passing.
The aforementioned Gadget produces one of my favorite tracks on this album
in "Round Tha Clock," where he takes the funky fresh piano stylings of Brubeck
and melds them with hip-hop samples on the hook, and the way it all meshes
together results in a piece that's both head nodding and mellow at the same time.
Other members of the mysterious Jousters collective provide equally worthy
tracks flexing their own Brubeck samples. B Ramsey kicks things into high gear
with a track that undoubtedly is less about Brubeck and more about his Quartet
as it gets horny with the horns - but "Mountain Moonshine" might just make you
want to take a swig or two. Stay Classy goes the opposite direction on "2DB"
and manages to work a Beastie Boys sample in that vows "you don't stop." I
really don't want this song to - two minutes and change isn't enough. Maple
Syrup lives up to their name and lays it on thick for tracks like the slow
paced and slightly distorted (in a good way) "Lifetime" and the crackling
record needle running over Brubeck's grooves on "Love St." It reminds me of
when Ice-T once said he wanted fried chicken samples - this is some crunchy
delicious s--t.
It's pretty clear to me after multiple times playing the 41 minutes of "Take 5.2"
that these Jousters ain't no jesters. You can't evaluate songs like RickMal's
spaced out "Special Brew" and Bare Beats tranquil "Younger Days" without giving
full acknowledgement to the debt they owe Dave Brubeck and his Quartet. These
tracks wouldn't be possible without that extensive archive of jazz compositions,
but at the same time they've taken that catalogue and pun intended given it
their own spin. I know Guru would approve.
Music Vibes: 8.5 of 10
Lyric Vibes: n/a of 10
TOTAL Vibes: 8.5 of 10
Originally posted: January 31, 2017
source: www.RapReviews.com