Urban Grooves: Album II [Import]

Urban Grooves: Album II [Import]

ASIN: B0001AVYW2

Track Listings

1. Long Way From Brooklyn

2. The Zodiac

3. To The Bone

4. Joy Is A Good Groove

5. Phat City Hustler

6. Urban Jazz

7. Fusion Food

8. Vinyl Junkie (Featuring Reuben Wilson)

9. Yo Man It's Herbie

10. Bump'N'Hustle

11. Right Oh Baby - Yeah

12. A Little Touch Of Soul

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
The sophomore album from chart-topping acid jazz act. Original Blue Note recording artist Reuben Wilson guests on Hammond organ for 'Vinyl Junkie'. 12 tracks. Pony Canyon. 2004.

Tracks:

Long Way From Brooklyn
The Zodiac
To The Bone
Joy Is A Good Groove
Phat City Hustler
Urban Jazz
Fusion Food
Vinyl Junkie
Yo Man It's Herbie
Bump 'N' Hustle
Right On Baby - Yeah!
A Little Touch Of Soul

Customer Reviews:

One of the best albums ever made.......2003-12-04

Even if you don't even like anything that has to do with Jazz this album will definetly appeal to you. I didn't listen to jazz at all, but mostly electronic and club music like Antiloop or Fatboy Slim. Guess what? Once I put this disc in my cd player it was stuck there for a whole week! I just couldn't stop listening. The songs are so different and they all have strong and good melodies. One of the best albums ever made in my opinion.

a funky good time!.......2003-06-26

everybody go out and buy this and have a funky good time!one of the best jazzfunk groups today!i'm sure the godfather james brown would groove to this!take it to the bridge!j.h.

Imprescindible si de verdad te gusta la música.......2003-01-27

Este cd de Down to the bone es un cóctel perfecto que te da muchos y variados sabores, desde el acid jazz hasta el sonido más funk, sin dejar de lado sonidos latinos y lounge, y por supuesto con ese toque groove que le da un carácter diferente.

Descubrí este disco en un club que destaca porque sus sonidos mayoritariamente son de acid jazz. Estaba escuchando el corte número 8 y me impresionó la calidad de los arreglos, y la mezcla perfecta de ritmo y musicalidad. Si tuviera que resumir este trabajo, diría que es como una orquesta llena de virtuosos, que se deja ver como acid jazz, pero que tiene pizcas muy notorias de funk, incluso house, que le dan muchísimo sabor.

Lógicamente, compré este cd para disfrute personal y debo decir que cuando lo escuché, a principios de 2002, me dí cuenta de que era una de las mejores adquisiciones del año. Lo llevo siempre en el coche y cada vez que alguien se sube y lo oye, me pregunta quiénes son. Enganchan desde el principio, tienen un ritmo agradable y nada estridente, y siendo temas instrumentales, se disfrutan mucho más porque te puedes recrear en la música, no en lo que te cuentan. Yo soy de los que opino que la letra no aporta nada a la música. La música es para oírla, no para que te haga pensar. La música te da sensaciones, no sentimientos.

Creo que si te gusta la música y escapas de lo vulgar, de lo masificado, este cd es una muy buena elección. Yo lo tengo en mi lista de imprescindibles.

Life On Planet Groove.......2003-01-05

I had initially began this review of Down To The Bone's sophmore disc " Urban Grooves II " with the title heading " Music for the Tragically Hip " but thought far better of it. While bearing in mind other Amazon.com reader's obvious enjoyment of this CD this listener had a rather difficult time digesting this disc in one sitting/listen. Well, beyond the obvious misguided attempt to present themselves in an overly urban/oh-so-cool manner this disc simply gets on my nerves perhaps more than any recent CD that I've purchased.

Don't misunderstand me....I too have been a long time fan of this style of jazz for many years. Musicians such as Donald Byrd, Herbie Mann or the early Crusaders practiced this style of jazz with mixed results but it was very enjoyable and ultimately rewarding in bringing in listener's to this genre. That being said I found the majority of what's to be heard on this disc patently phony in it's all too eager desire cast iself as 'urban chic' and in trying to maintain some type of street-creed amongst younger listener's. You can call it 'jazz lite' or anything else you please but simply by virtue of having saxophone, flute or any other wind instrument in your song's does not a jazz CD make. The tunes to be found here go on far too long i.e." The Zodiac " clocking in at a lengthy, mind-numbing 8 minutes. Which, in most cases would be fine if the song actually went somewhere but sadly it just constantly repeats itself on and on ad naseum until it mercifully dies off. And, after attempting to listen to the other tracks to be found, all of them rewarding the buyer with the same self-absorbed thumping groove and heavy
bass beat on song after song....after song I found myself throwing up my hands. Leaving this listener exhausted and looking for his stereo's on/off switch...plus the nearest bottle of Excedrin.

I, as a rule, would never cast aspertions of any other listerner's taste in music but I have to wonder how so many music lover's could find this style of rehashed, overly produced and, at times, even child-like melodies more than just slightly entertaining. Do Stuart Wade and Chris Morgans, the Brit duo who produce DTTB and are it's source of inspiration, truly have their fingers on the pulse of what young jazz listener's really enjoy or are they just market savvy enough to be able to promote their product to young suburban white consumer's who share in some misguided longings in their desire to be "hip" " cool" or even "urban." Make no mistake, like it or not, just like anything else in the vast world, this is simply a product and knowing how to market and thusly promote that product is sadly just as important as the contents to be found therein. And, again sadly, that also pertains to today's music business as well. And this duo has done an admirable job of fobbing off to any unsuspecting listener/consumer a product that is neither fresh or, for that matter, even truly current in today's music industry.

Ultimately, while " Urban Grooves II " may appear to perhaps be paying hommage to the jazz greats mentioned above I suspect that is simply not the case. Disguising yourself as some type of jazz afficionado is bad enough but when you attempt to market that enthusiasm to susceptible, at times even impressionable young music lover's, not only is that disengenuous but even reprehensible as well. (But apparently it is profitable seeing how well this duo's CD's are flying off the shelf.) Trying to associate yourself, simply by having photograph's of the Crusader's, Airto and other jazz giants in this field on the back cover of your disc, simply won't grant you entry into the field of jazz. That's like stating that Sade ( a fine singer in her own way ) is this generation's answer to Ella or Billie Holiday. It's going to take more than just recycled grooves and a few photo's of urban record stores plus the occassional jazz lick here and there to truly grant you that entrance. When 'Down To The Bone' has done some homework, payed some dues and learned some real chops perhaps I'll be back. 'Tragically hip' who's to say. But for now I think I'll pass.

Delicious Funk!.......2002-04-14

Yes, I'll add my voice to the chorus -- the disk rocks from start to finish. If not for a visit to the States one day and fortunately hearing them on the radio (a college station specialising in jazz) and then luckily catching the artist's name -- I'd never have known about these guys. This is one of today's music's best kept secrets, but hopefully not much longer. For those who've yet to hear them, it's very difficult to compare this sound to anything else I've heard. A jazzy feel with a strong danceable bottom -- Brass Construction or Wood, Brass and Steel (from the 70's) come close, but not quite.

If asked to pick favourite tracks, I'll go with "Long Way from Brooklyn", "The Zodiac", "Joy Is a Good Groove", and "Bump 'n' Hustle". Some of them are so good you just want to put the player on repeat -- but don't, because the next track is just as good. Pretty rare these days to get a disk where you like every cut, but this is it. I also now own the follow-up disk Spread the Word, but it's not quite so consistently strong. I await their newest release (coming in May) with enthusiasm!!

There aren't too many disks that I and my 19-year-old daughter both like, but this is one of them. When others her age ask what she likes, and she mentions Down to the Bone, she draws stares and "WHO?" She simply says, "check 'em out..." You should too.

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