{"id":7603,"date":"2019-12-12T17:25:08","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T16:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/fosforo\/?p=7603"},"modified":"2019-12-26T17:12:07","modified_gmt":"2019-12-26T16:12:07","slug":"music-for-uplifting-gormandizers-altamira-shuffle-part-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/fosforo\/archives\/7603","title":{"rendered":"Music For Uplifting Gormandizers: Altamira Shuffle (part 1 & 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>My very first attempt at a record collection, age 15, was with Jazz albums. Of course I also listened to Prog, West Coast music and the occasional Santana, but my money went to Jazz. Mingus, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker were my idols, although I also had an odd attraction for earlier, pre-Be Bop Jazz: the big bands, Swing, even Dixieland. It was different from, say, Coltrane: orchestral music without long solos, a lot of arrangements, plenty of groove and the Blues loud and clear. When I discovered Count Basie I became his #1 fan: he was the Dr Dre of Swing. His music wasn’t just notes: the ambiance, sound, atmosphere was so deeply cool that it was enough, you didn’t really need melodies. When Swing became Pop in the 1940s, it retained this quality: much of Peggy Lee’s allure is in the sonic places her singing is set into, case in point the urban, nocturne, decadent Black Coffee<\/a>. I like Jazz but not Jazz solos, with a few exceptions: too many notes way too fast for way too long. That’s why I love Miles: few notes, plenty of repetitions and space in between.<\/p>\n

So some time ago I set out to make music that looked like Jazz, retained its atmospheric qualities and rhythm tension, without solos but with two important new ingredients: the delay (which is perfect for swinging beats) and a Dub\/Techno mentality. I made a few tunes (there will be more on the album), this was one of the first. Someone called it Voodoo Jazz<\/em>, it sounds just about right to me.<\/p>\n

The beat is made with layers of samples, percussion parts and delays. Everything else is played by hand. The reason it’s (part 1 & 2)<\/em> is because it follows a structure that goes back to the late 50s\/mid 60s. At that time you could only put 3 minutes of music on each side of a 45. But if you had a nice rolling groove and wanted people to hear it all, you could put part 2 on the B side. James Brown did it, and a million other people too. The first time this concept hit me hard was with Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger: their Save Me (part 1 & 2)<\/a>, perhaps the bravest Aretha Franklin cover ever, was my favorite song when I was 9.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, by Altamira I mean Altamira<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Listen on Spotify<\/a>
\nBuy track on Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n