80's Fusion Jazz: JAMES DALLAS- LIFE FORMS- LP

JAMES DALLAS- LIFE FORMS- LP- PRIVATE PRESS- 1982
Admittedly, it took me a while begin checking for jazz records from the 1980s. The sound is usually very different from classic jazz of the 50's and 60's and even the jazz-funk sound of 70's Blue Note and Mizell Bros. production that is beloved in the beat digging world. Sure there's some legitimately trash 80s jazz (see G., Kenny) but there's a ton of dope jazz material, especially in the more "underground" world of private pressings.
The James Dallas LP, recorded and pressed in my hometown Milwaukee, WI, is one such very dope jazz/funk/modern soul LP. I was put onto it at Lotus Land Records in Milwaukee and was not disapointed. The record has a good combination of tracks for DJ's, such as the title reack, and producers, such as "Sidetrack" and "Stormy".
Buy an OG copy here
Get the music here
James Dallas' Myspace Page

Spiritual Jazz: Doug & Jean Carn- Higher Ground LP

DOUG & JEAN CARN- HIGHER GROUND- LP- OVATION RECORDS- 1976
High quality vocal spiritual jazz LP by the husband-wife duo of Doug and Jean Carn. The players on the album are a who's who of rare groove soul-funk-jazz of the time and the near future: Doug Carn on keys and vocals, Ronnie Laws on sax, Calvin Keys on guitar, Big Black on percussion, Harvey Mason (called Harold on the record cover) on drums. Jean Carn would go on to a successful career in more mainstream soul/funk, but this shows you where she and Doug were at with there music in the mid-70s. The cover of Coltrane's "Naima" is my personal favorite track on the LP.

Get it here

Random Rap 12" Single- Scott Lark The Sensei-Razzle Dazzle

SCOTT LARK THE SENSEI ft. JAGGID EDGE- RAZZLE DAZZLE 12"-
CONTRACT RECORDS- 1996

Very dope 12" I came across recently. Scott Lark has a super smoked out sounding voice and the smooth ass-beat for the track "Razzle Dazzle" works perfectly with his vocals. The B-Side has 3 other tracks, all quality. Classic mid-90's hip-hop. Download link below...

Get it here

Milwaukee Record Finds: The Lost Generation LP

The Lost Generation: Young, Tough and Terrible

One of the best things about record digging is that you always seem to make the best finds when you least expect it.  A quick trip to the record store yesterday yielded a few nice finds, but the gem of the group was this Lost Generation LP, a tough-to-find soul LP produced by Eugene Record, of Chi-Lites fame. Heard about this group from the Soulman Mixtape, "Coolin'" which included the joint "This is The Lost Generation", which is the real burner on the album, plus the instrumental is included which is real nice for beat-making purposes...

The Lost Generation- This Is the Lost Generation (Vocal)

This Is the Lost Generation (Instrumental)

Random B-Ball Clip- Ray Allen

From July 1996 to Febuary 2003 (his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks) my favorite ball player was Ray Allen. He would have remained my favorite player, but the pain of rooting for him on another team was too much, though I'm glad he finally got to win a title last year in Beantown. Below is a nice mix of Ray Ray highlights backed backed by Dead Prez's "Hip Hop" Remix.  

The dunk on Yinka Dare (at the Olympics) and the one on T-Mac are particularly nasty... 

Last of the Record Buyers- PC

Gotta shout out my boy PC, whose the special guest next week (Thursday, January 15th) at Last of the Record buyers. 

Check out the preview video below.

4 Shades/CSC Jam Session

Couple of clips from a recent jam session featuring O-D, Katrah-Quey, G-Mo, Pee-C, and Eyecue.

And another one...