Around the start of the new century, hip-hop visionary Madlib had taken a leap into unchartered territories with a Fender Rhodes and his Yesterday’s New Quintet project. It saw him assume a series of jazz aliases, playing all the instruments himself, and resulted in the 2001 album “Angles Without Edges”. The album caught some ears at Blue Note and opened the door for “Shades Of Blue”.

“My man Peanut Butter Wolf was joking around and called Blue Note up,” Madlib explained in an interview. “They liked the Yesterday’s New Quintet album and he was like ‘you should let him do a little music project’ and they just said ‘yes’. It just happened like that, they sent me masters of old songs, tracks and stuff. They wanted me to add instruments, remix stuff. It’s amazing, man. Hearing stuff you don’t hear, different takes, the between takes when they’re talking and stuff. Like 30 seconds before the song, they’ll be talking in the studio, telling somebody to do this, or cussing at some dude or something. It’s just like how we do.”

Let’s take a closer look at five of the original takes that caught Madlib’s ear, and like some jazz witness protection program, found a new identity after his Blue Note invasion.

Bobbi Humphrey – “Please Set Me Ease” (from “Fancy Dancer”, 1975)

By the time the Texan “First Lady of Flute” was recording her sixth album for Blue Note in 1975, she had hit a creative peak, ushering in a new type of anything-goes jazz funk fusion. With the Mizell Brothers overseeing production duties and an extended personnel comprising of guests like harpist Dorothy Ashby and vibraphonist Roger Glenn, “Fancy Dancer” was a mix of beguiling funk and meditative fusion that cemented Humphrey’s reputation as a pioneering jazz storyteller. Packed with plenty of synth low-end alongside Chuck Rainey’s funky bass lines and Harvey Mason’s rolling breaks, it’s no surprise it’s been widely sampled, and the modulating lullaby “Please Set Me At Ease” provided the jumping-off point for a raw and multi-layered collab between Madlib and rapper M.E.D.

Horace Silver – “Song For My Father” (from “Song For My Father”, 1964)

As one of pianist Horace Silver’s most-widely recognised tunes, “Song For My Father” defined the Blue Note sound from the moment it dropped in 1964. Silver was starting to move away from the hard bop of previous years and found inspiration further afield from Brazil and Cape Verde. The Afro-Cuban lilt brings a lightness to the whole album, despite being recorded across different dates with different ensembles. Although the instantly recognisable bassline was interpolated by Steely Dan, it’s safe to say there’s never been a version like the one on “Shades Of Blue”. Madlib assembles his Sound Direction group to render a blazed lounge-jazz version, with plenty of loose interpretation, and touches of sunburnt guitar in the vein of Gabor Szabo.

Reuben Wilson – “Stormy” (from “Love Bug”, 1969)

Organ player Reuben Wilson was at the beginning of his long recording career, but in the middle of an all-star line-up for his second album “Love Bug”: Trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenorman George Coleman, drummer Idris Muhammad and guitarist Grant Green give Wilson plenty of space and bars to solo, as he puts the Hammond B3 through its paces. Like Madlib, Wilson could take tunes of the past and present and shape them in his own image, bringing a laid-back funk to show tunes and soul hits alike, as well as his own compositions. Madlib goes into Yesterday’s New Quintet mode with his pals for a version that’s heavy on the breakbeat and flute-guitar-organ interplay.

Herbie Hancock – “Dolphin Dance” (from “Maiden Voyage”, 1965)

Hancock’s masterful approach to piano had long been acknowledged even before his Blue Note debut, but the album “Maiden Voyage” saw him reach a zen-like calm with his compositions, with circular changes that roll like a high tide on a summer’s day. With “Dolphin Dance”, Hancock and his quintet took what they’d learnt from their time playing with Miles Davis and captured one of the pinnacles of Hancock’s acoustic period, creating an instant jazz standard. Madlib blends the tune with the Horace Silver song “Peace” for added psychedelic effect, as shimmering melodies bounce and echo off each other.

Wayne Shorter – “Footprints” (from “Adam’s Apple”, 1966)

“Adam’s Apple” saw the lauded tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter dive further into his impressionistic melodic style and use his unique harmonic theory for his tune “Footprints”. Shorter’s trick of moving the tonal centre of a song to create a levitating sensation is on full display, and Herbie Hancock, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Joe Chambers really get inside its fluent movements. It’s perfectly suited for Madlib’s floaty take, who jumps on Joe Chambers’ percussive rhythms and spirals down a Blue Note rabbit hole.

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Max Cole is a writer and music enthusiast based in Düsseldorf, who has written for record labels and magazines such as Straight No Chaser, Kindred Spirits, Rush Hour, South of North, International Feel and the Red Bull Music Academy.

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_{Header image: Madlib. Image courtesy of Blue Note Records.}