Beat Conductor leads new jazz generation
Joe Leli
Issue date: 3/8/02 Section: The Edge
- Page 1 of 1
4out of 4
Otis Jackson Jr., also known as Madlib, also known as Quasimoto, also known as Yesterday's New Quintet - the man I'm speaking of is the producer of an unimaginable number of hip-hop releases on Stones Throw records.
In 1999, he did all of the production for his trio called Lootpack.
In 2000, he released an experimental jazz album called "Yesterday's New Quintet," in which he played the Fender rhodes piano, percussion, bass guitar and much more, all by himself.
Madlib knocks out about an album's worth of material every three days. With his love for old dusty jazz riffs and a well-known underground musician for a parent, his creativity seems to be endless.
In his newest release, he goes by the name of the Beat Conductor, which is also the name of the album. The album is a double seven-inch vinyl with 13 songs total. But on this particular piece of work, there are no words, just about a half-hour of Madlib instrumentals.
The vinyl starts out with a quick minute-long beat called "Earth Sound" that lets any listener know why he has gotten so much acclaim for his past work. After flipping to side B of the first record, the song "Elements of Mr. Crabfeather," shows off Madlib's most hip-hop sounding song, which contains a loop that any rapper can freestyle over. The remainder of the album is mostly classic jazz riffs completely reborn over a hard-hitting drum machine.
On the second album, one can find the song "Pike's Strike," which features the Beat Conductor showing off his talents on the Fender rhodes piano. It has a smoothness to it that can attract the attention of the most die-hard jazz fan and still appeal to today's hip-hop audience.
Overall, Otis Jackson Jr. is a completely overlooked artist who may never get the credit he deserves. I would say he is one of the greatest musicians of our time and the ones who buy his music are too lucky to even realize it.
The only tools Madlib used for this music is a SP 1200 sampler and a whole lot of vinyl, so you can only imagine what he does with other instruments. If you don't have a turntable, you probably won't be able to catch any of the Beat Conductor music.
But stonesthrow.com has a complete discography of all Madlib's previous releases on vinyl and CD.
Otis Jackson Jr., also known as Madlib, also known as Quasimoto, also known as Yesterday's New Quintet - the man I'm speaking of is the producer of an unimaginable number of hip-hop releases on Stones Throw records.
In 1999, he did all of the production for his trio called Lootpack.
In 2000, he released an experimental jazz album called "Yesterday's New Quintet," in which he played the Fender rhodes piano, percussion, bass guitar and much more, all by himself.
Madlib knocks out about an album's worth of material every three days. With his love for old dusty jazz riffs and a well-known underground musician for a parent, his creativity seems to be endless.
In his newest release, he goes by the name of the Beat Conductor, which is also the name of the album. The album is a double seven-inch vinyl with 13 songs total. But on this particular piece of work, there are no words, just about a half-hour of Madlib instrumentals.
The vinyl starts out with a quick minute-long beat called "Earth Sound" that lets any listener know why he has gotten so much acclaim for his past work. After flipping to side B of the first record, the song "Elements of Mr. Crabfeather," shows off Madlib's most hip-hop sounding song, which contains a loop that any rapper can freestyle over. The remainder of the album is mostly classic jazz riffs completely reborn over a hard-hitting drum machine.
On the second album, one can find the song "Pike's Strike," which features the Beat Conductor showing off his talents on the Fender rhodes piano. It has a smoothness to it that can attract the attention of the most die-hard jazz fan and still appeal to today's hip-hop audience.
Overall, Otis Jackson Jr. is a completely overlooked artist who may never get the credit he deserves. I would say he is one of the greatest musicians of our time and the ones who buy his music are too lucky to even realize it.
The only tools Madlib used for this music is a SP 1200 sampler and a whole lot of vinyl, so you can only imagine what he does with other instruments. If you don't have a turntable, you probably won't be able to catch any of the Beat Conductor music.
But stonesthrow.com has a complete discography of all Madlib's previous releases on vinyl and CD.