Frenchy’s Fracas

just one track: Annie Lennox’ version of the classic:
Everytime We Say Goodbye

Just found out that RH Factor (Roy Hargrove) got an album out this year called: Distractions. More listening on the to-do list..

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General Description
Artist/Band: RH Factor (Roy Hargrove)
Album Title: Hard Groove
Year: 2003

I’m sooooo slow on the uptake..
 
How I Got Into This Music
I didn’t.. Ehm.. Gotta be honest, I didn’t get into this music after a coupla tries and for quite a while I didn’t think much of it. First time I looked this album up, was after I heard Roy Hargrove play on the Think Twice version on Erykah Badu’s Worldwide Underground album. I found this Hard Groove album, and it just wasn’t working for me.
Then I got a chance to see him perform live at the North Sea Jazz Festival this year and again, it didn’t click - I was kinda underwhelmed. Last month I thought about the album again and I gave the album another listen. Hmmm.. Huh?

Album info at Answers.com || Album review at artistsdirect.com

Tracks that got my attention:
Hardgroove
Title track. Haunting movie score music, with Pino Palladino doing the nasty on bass

Common Free Style ft Common
One of the more balanced and dedicated rappers in the business doing an ok freestyling performance

I’ll Stay ft D’Angelo
Bass line reminds me of Quincy Jones, heh.. The vocals? First coupla times I heard this track, I thought someone was ripping of D’Angelo, but I was wrong: it’s the Man Himself! That guy’s incredible, even though the track\’s not that strong

Pastor T
Funky, jazzy instrumental

Poetry ft Q-Tip, Erykah Badu and Meshell Ndegeocello
This is the song that convinced me that this album’s worth paying attention too.. The recipe: add one of my favorite rappers, mix my all-time favorite bass player in it and add just a splash of a great soul diva - the result? Wow.. Wow.. Wow..
Love Badu’s chant!

The Joint
Powerful instrumental, Roy Hargrove’s horn is doing its subtle work

Forget Regret ft Stephanie McKay
Brittle yet strong vocals by a great singer. And that horn section, yummy!

Liquid Streets
Very smooth and lovely atmosphere

Kwah/Home ft Anthony Hamilton
Weird setup: starts out as one type of song and switches to another one after sixty seconds. And after two minutes, another setup all over again. All are ok by the way..

How I Know ft Shelby Johnson
This song.. Ohwow.. It’s such a simple song, but I’ve been dreaming about this song since I started paying attention to it. Can you imagine falling with a woman just by hearing her sing? Possible. Without even knowing how she looks? In this TV era, not likely, but it sure as hell happened to me
This track makes many a grumpy-grey rainy day make way for a smiling sunshine kinda day.

Conclusion
Still can’t understand how I neglected my duties: should’ve picked up on the quality of the album the first time I heard it. But hey, I screw up sometimes, heheh..
Roy Hargrove’s adventure into more mainstream sounds of funk, soul and Real R&B is a successful one. The more jazzy instrumental pieces allow new listeners to get a taste of that side of the musical spectrum.
The collaboration is what stands out on this album: great musicians making great music.

Rating: (better friggin’ late than never..)

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Our impressions of our second day at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam:
[Hieronymus Fox - HF; Frenchy - F]

RH Factor (Roy Hargrove)
[HF]
Couldn’t follow whatever the performance was about. The vocals weren’t that good. Mostly a ragtag set of tracks
[F]
Finally some jazz! Kept feeling the story told in most tracks ended a bit unfinished. Not impressive

Marcus Miller
[HF]
BassMaster! Great version of Miles Davis‘ Tutu. Great harmonica performance. Solid performance.
[F]
I dislike this guy, he’s way too good ;o) Also impressed by harmonica player (very, very impressed).

Erykah Badu
[HF]
Delay resulted in a shorter show (too bad). Compressed and hurried, not enough time to set up a real performance
[F]
Ultimate diva, a bit distant at the beginning, warmed up to the audience at the end. Great setup with sampler. Loved the I Want You track!

Paul Weller
[HF]
Very beautiful. Enjoyed it, sitting quietly with my eyes closed. A very restrained but personal performance
[F]
Grand old man of British music (cut your wrists if you’re thinking: BritPop). Solid performance.

Marcelo D2
[HF]
Samba hip-hop party. Great interaction with the crowd. Language barrier. Sauna temperatures at the Yukon venue
[F]
Best performance, best new personal discovery. Great artists!

Jhelisa
[HF]
Saw just a coupla minutes, too short. Nice, but didn’t seem to work with the crowd or the Yukon venue, should’ve gotten a better jazz location
[F]
Great singer, just didn’t work for me (getting a bit tired)

Kanye West
[HF]
Great setup with the live violins and harp. Nice make-up on the same performers. Not impressed enough by performance to start buying his stuff. Doesn’t click, doesn’t have it. Excellent DJ, though.
[F]
Never liked his stuff (still can’t really explain it). Funny to see the appeal this guy has: a very wide selection of people were really enjoying his performance.

Honorary Mention
The DJ at the Yukon who played in between acts. Very, very great work and prime quality selection of music!

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July 14-16 2006: North Sea Jazz Festival@Rotterdam - some of the acts I wanna go and see:

• Sergio Mendes
• The Neville Brothers
• Tower of Power
• RH Factor feat. Roy Hargrove
• Marcus Miller
• Erykah Badu
• Marcelo D2

Happy Puppy, me.. yes..

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General Description
Artist/Band: Erykah Badu
Album Title: Wordwide Underground
Year: 2003

Mellow, musical craftmanship with a touch of weirdness and a lot of Soul..
 
How I Got Into This Music
CNN did a special segment on the Texas artist with the weird spelling, Erykah Badu. And they showed parts of the video “On And On”, and I was stunned! Here’s this skinny yet incredibly beautiful lady with the big killer eyes, singing a nasal variant of something sounding like Miss Billie Holiday, wow!!
Now she can’t compare to Lady Day and she sure as hell ain’t trying to. So I was hooked immediately, but her first album “Baduizm” didn’t work for me. Later on, “Baduizm Live” came out, a live registration (as the title already suggests), and that album.. well, it worked instantly!! It was weird how much difference in enjoyment there was for me between the studio and the live album..
This continued with her second album “Mama’s Gun” which couldn’t impress me at all.. Then this album “Worldwide Underground” came out..

Tracks that got my attention:

Bump It Featuring Zap Mama & Karon Wheeler
Remember Karon Wheeler? No? Howzabout the “Back To Life” track from SoulIISoul? Ahah.. She did the vocals.
Groovy soul track with a weird finale

Back in the Day (Puff)
Now this track really gets me going! Mega mellow melodies, instant floor filler and weird nostalgia trigger.. Love it!!

I Want You
This is a very gutsy song. I tried letting friends of mine listen to it, but the intro is about two minutes before any real melody is presented. Now I got used to it after three times, but I understand why this wouldn’t work for a lot of people.
Thing is, once the song gets going, you get a very, very enjoyable track and once you’ve listened to the whole thing a coupla times, you understand how much of a risk has been taken.. Masterful and powerful track!

Woo
Please people, skip the “Nu Soul” labelling, okay? This is excellent Soul, nuff said..

Think Twice Featuring Roy Hargrove
Gotta brush up on my classics.. Can’t figure out the original version of this track, but hey.. Nice groove..

Love Of My Life Featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone and Bahamadia
Often sounds quite crappy but I love the guest vocals by Angie Stone and Bahamadia..

Conclusion
Badu’s album or EP or whatever is an album I play quite a lot, so I enjoy listening to it. You kinda expect her to do more impressive stuff, but this lady’s got a mind of her own and doesn’t do her music to please others (even her record label, I guess..). This is not a hit album, but still there are nice tracks, so-so tracks and two great songs on it.. She really is one of the prominent Soul artists of this time.

Rating: (those eyes.. oooooh..)

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