The New Groove (The Blue Note Remix Project Volume 1)

The New Groove (The Blue Note Remix Project Volume 1)

I am obsessed with making sure my mp3 files are correctly tagged so they appear a certain way when I pull them up on Serato, Apple TV and the like. I really get music almost daily, and try to tag as frequently as I can, but it usually ends up being an all-day session at the end of the month, which is when I load everything into iTunes. Nevertheless, it took almost a year to make sure I had all the images and tags correct (I don’t. Too many obscure joints) only to discover on a fluke, years later, that I had one folder remaining that was never re-tagged. The folder is titled Nu Gruvz and contains albums from Carlos Nino, The RH Factor, and other albums I didn’t know how to correctly categorize over a decade ago (and somewhat still don’t).

While beginning this chore, I ran into an album I completely forgot about AND forgot I owned, 1996’s The New Groove (The Blue Note Remix Project Volume 1). I don’t remember purchasing it but somehow remember playing the stank off The Roots’ remake of Bobby Hutcherson’s Montara. I was amazed to see it included remixes by most notably Diamond D, Large Pro, The Ummah, and Easy Mo Bee. In the late 80’s/90’s these were the illest producers on the scene, yet their respectful, perhaps to a fault, approach of the source material was at times underwhelming. One review of the project reads, “Almost all of the tracks work well….,” so it appears my sentiment is shared. However, some of these really stood the test of time. I’m listening to Easy Mo Bee’s remix of Horace Silver’s The Sophisticated Hippie right now and it sounds fantastic 24 years later!

Almost a decade later, Blue Note released the phenomenal Blue Note Revisited which is a monster from track 1, (in Deontay Wilder voice) to this day! The Blue Note camp seemed to be very selective with who touched the tracks on that release and let ‘em do their thing. It’s a virtual who’s who of who was internationally hot on the boards at that time: Dilla, Madlib, Spinna, 4 Hero, Jazzanova, B.I.T.A…

Anyways, If you got The New Groove (The Blue Note Remix Project Volume 1), dig it up and play it as it approaches its Silver Anniversary. If not, find it and grab it up, it’s def worth a listen.

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