Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's. thoughts on Jazz

"God has brought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create - and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations. Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music. Modern Jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of "racial identity" as a problem for a multi-racial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls. Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down. And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. 

In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Opening speech at the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival
Humanity and the Importance of Jazz

Jazz........ Keiko Inouye's thoughts.

Why do you think jazz isn't as popular as other kinds of music? 
I don't want to sound insulting at all .... but I think people are often too lazy to sit down and listen to jazz, 'cause you have to think about it. They prefer stuff that's handed to them, like pop repetition is given to them, but with jazz -- in order to enjoy it, you have to think about what you're listening to.  --- Keiko Inouye

"They’re here to shake the foundations."

The Quakers get their name comes from earthquake, a 35 member Hip-hop group that focuses on three producers: Fuzzface, 7-Stu-7 and Katalyst. You can read more about them here. 
I love instrumental music, Jazz, Classical, Hip-hop beats, Noise, Electronic ect. so it goes without saying that when amazing producers and composers make music with lyrics I love when they release the instrumentals of the original songs. Normally this takes months or years to come out with the instrumental only albums, but Quakers are releasing their debut album with both the original and instrumental versions 2 CD or 2LP  formats. Split evenly originals on one disc instrumentals on the other. 
From what I have heard from them the music is amazing. Touching on Big Band Horn Jazz, Electronic, to everyday Hip-hop. I pride them for being creative and finding a wide array of rappers, but sometimes I don't want to here someone rapping about stuff I don't care about, let the music speak. Poetry in music is creative, encouraging, and inspiring, it has its time and place. With Quakers they are letting us choose what we are in the mood for. Check out a few of their tracks here, if you like what you hear, buy the album!

Badbadnotgood

Badbadnotgood, all one word, is a group that specializes in playing Jazz covers of Hip-Hop songs. It's interesting that Hip-Hop is heavily influenced by Jazz music. Now there is a wave of modern Jazz bands covering Hip-Hop tracks. Badbadnotgood is one of those bands, and despite their name, one of the best. One of the great things about the band is, you can tell they enjoy playing music, they are not in it to make money. All of their music can be found for free on their website, click on the download tab. They also have many tracks available for listen on YouTube.
Badbadnotgood, unfortunately, is best known for their covers and work with Tyler The Creator. In my opinion, Tyler is literally bad bad not good! His lyrics are more vulgar than artists such as Eminem, and he can't rhyme as as well. His music is not worth my time, one of my biggest pet peeves in music is when an artist uses explicit language just to use explicit language, his tracks are full of obscene language to get people to react, not to develop the story or idea he is rapping about. On the flip side, Badbadnotgood's instrumental covers of Tyler are beautiful, they also cover MF DOOM, the late J Dilla, and many more. It is groups like this that remind us that music is still being made or remade for the enjoyment of playing music.

Avant Garde - Amazing Grace

Listen to William Parker and Matthew Shipp's short, somewhat awkward, but beautiful take on Amazing Grace! One of my favorite versions.

Copyright Criminals - The Movie

Copyright Criminals is an hour long documentary detailing the controversy of sampling previously recorded music, to add to your own sound production. Interviews and comments come from both sides; the artist on one side and the law on the other. Focusing primarily on sampling in hip-hop music, issues come up like: Is sampling as creative as playing ones own instruments? Is it possible to take a prerecorded sound and change it  so much that it is no longer owned by the original artist? Can you tell if a hi-hat sound came from Clyde Stubblefield, Malcolm Catto, Ringo Starr or the artist making the new music? These and many more questions are discussed and answered in this short but extremely entertaining film. If you already have a Netflix subscription, you can stream it for free, if you would like to purchase it afterward or do not have Netflix you can order a DVD and special features from the movies website. Whichever format you choose, I recommend you watch it, if you are at all interested in hip-hop music or if you are interested in copyright laws and bylaws, this film is worth your time.