JAZZY.

Here's a little something I've been bumping a LOT lately...

...Jazzanova's In Between was first passed on to me by my Chi-Town Peanut Gallery Affiliate, Pairograffs bombing spree partner, and brotha-from-anotha-motha, Irie Swire. He put me on to these guys hella random one night when I was deejaying at a bar called Tryst on the northside of Chicago; right around the corner from where the Cubs lose a lot of baseball games.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE TRAC ON THE ALBUM.

Not only did the project have what still strikes me as some of the most awesome CD packaging I have ever seen, but the audio content of the record paralleled and even surpassed it's fresh exterior. Playing with time signatures and arrangements like music has no rules (should it?), this Berlin-based DJ/producer collective completely wowed my ear and sent tiny little explosions of inspiration coursing through the artistic side of my brain. Continually working their casual blend of house, hip hop, and jazz into my DJ sets for almost a full year, I'd be lying if I said that their sound didn't find it's way into some of what I myself created around that time. Although I was experimenting heavily prior to this discovery on albums like The AA Meeting and The Unheard, you may be able to hear the slight shift in influence on projects like Double-A Battery and Calinois To Illifornia. Make your own comparisons.

THE SAME SONG LIVE, IF YOU'RE INTO THAT SORT OF THING.

Needless to say, this is yet another classic record that you should have. Any music creator and/or lover can study the intricacies of this project for hours on end, and I swear that each time you press play, you will discover something else hidden deep within Jazzanova's complex measures of music on In Between... It's almost been 10 years, and I still get something new out of every listen.

Get it HERE or HERE.