james carter - song of delilah

late january in 2010 i was listening to the radio on my cellphone and i was flicking through the channels and swedish national radio station p2 was on and playing jazz. it was some very good jazz and i was hooked instantly. it was this nice vibrant groove going on and then ten minutes in i hear this big freejazz-like crescendo.

it goes on for a minute or so and then it all breaks down to bassline and i was gobsmacked. because here was this hiphop groove played by a jazz ensemble and it was really well done. i listened to the whole thing and loved it and found out the jazz was by james carters quintet and the full monty was a live recording from a show that carter did at berlins quasimodo club.

i went home and listened to it again via the intarwebs since they streamed the thing on the swedish national radio website. later i thought, why don't i figure out how to rip this and i did and i have that whole one hour set and it's excellent.

especially this double bass solo by a mr. ralph armstrong where he strums masterfully and then brakes out his bow and does a soothing exhibition with that as well. i remember sending that to a mate (fellow musicgeek and jazz lover, dj jake julius) and he loved that part with the bow.

anyhow, that section that sent my jaw to the floor was a version of jazz standard "song of delilah" and was featured on mr. carter's 2008 'present tense' album and is amazing. it took me a long while to get adjusted to the album version since he doubles up his own soprano sax part and with a tenor sax.

also the fact that the song on the album is a compact piece where as the version from the quasimodo goes for 10 minutes with extra improvisation but i guess that's jazz in general. carters version infuses a lot of hiphop sensibility and when i heard the track i thought i have to do something with this and carters version gives you already everything. all you have to do is to add heavier drums (which i already have done).

buy here (7digital)

i should also mention that "Song of Delilah" has been recorded by a number of jazz luminaries and some other acts. i've taken a listen to a few renditions on spotify and i recommend Herbie Mann's version, The Jokers' exotica meets blues version, Nat King Cole's version and Lou Blackburn's version.