AFAR feat. Jahah_音乐专辑
AFAR feat. Jahah
表演者: AFAR
介质: CD
发行时间: 2006-12-06
出版者: DAY TRACK/BeeZee 70
条形码: 4560109080366
专辑简介
AFAR
"Bringing Music Back to Hip-Hop"
Although hip-hop is the most vibrant and lively music in the world, it's ironically missing one crucial element: live music. Enter AFAR.
With artists like OutKast, Ludacris and Lil' Jon dominating the pop charts, Atlanta hip-hop has become the soundtrack of America. Now, Atlanta-based hip-hop band AFAR is defining the sound of hip-hop, one that is quickly dominating the musical landscape.
AFAR is sonically complete--a five piece band including members with rock, jazz, gospel, and R&B backgrounds--and rightfully so. When you think of the music of hip-hop, you think of a confluence of genres. The ear recalls the rock guitar driven soundscapes of Rick-Rubin produced Run-DMC or Jay-Z sampling The Doors for "The Takeover." You savor the jazzy piano behind the best of A Tribe Called Quest or Common. The gospel sonics supporting Mary J. Blige. The R&B grooves of The Neptunes. Imagine all of these styles melding in one song, one band. That is AFAR music.
The band has recently completed recording its eponymous CD, playing gigs throughout the country with AFAR lyricist Jahah, and even backing up other rappers, the way The Roots did for Jay-Z's Unplugged concert. Besides live music, AFAR combines two other concepts that are often woefully absent from hip-hop: unity and education. The five members conduct workshops at schools to teach children that in this era of electronic music, the source of it all is live instrumentation. And it gets no more basic, fundamental, nor utterly essential than AFAR. Indeed, AFAR is here to school all listeners on how real hip-hop music sounds.
PIANO: Doron
AFAR is the brainchild of jazz piano wunderkind Doron Johnson. His resume virtually guarantees him music industry success. Johnson graduated from the ultra-prestigious Berklee School of Music in an accelerated two years and earned a Masters in Jazz Pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory. Johnson went on to play piano alongside and for public figures such as Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, and Michael Douglas as well as music legends like Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, B.B. King, and jazz greats Herbie Hancock (as the only pianist on his tour) and Wynton Marsalis, as a member of the famed Wynton Marsalis Septet..
After apprenticing himself to the best in the business, Johnson decided it was time to helm his own band. "The number one thing I learned is that there is strength in numbers. I always relate it to a basketball team. You could have a superstar but need five members to make it work," he reasons.
So like a good General Manager, Johnson embarked on a three month draft season to scout and recruit members. "I searched the most popular clubs in Atlanta, went out to meet them and hear them play. I wanted people who aren't into doing one thing, people are totally open."
What he found was a medley of brilliant musicians with a variety of backgrounds and influences. "Some of us can read music and some of us can play by ear, which is good because we have the flexibility to work with anyone, not like some bands." But there's one thing they all have in common: every member is an expert in his instrument with ten years plus experience, and as a band, they sound like they've been playing together for a lifetime.
GUITAR: Marc Baldwin
"I think I bring a totally different view because of my musical influences. Rock has different song structures and in a live show, a lot of improvisation," says AFAR musician Marc Baldwin.
Although Baldwin's last name is reminiscent of the famed piano manufacturer, Baldwin plays the other stringed instrument. With influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour to John McLaughlin (Miles Davis, Carlos Santana) and John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Baldwin brings the rock edge to AFAR. Baldwin is also internally diverse: he is both self-taught and formally trained (at the University of North Carolina at Asheville) and along with rock, he's grounded in blues, jazz, and folk music. AFAR is far from Baldwin's first foray into hip-hop. Most recently, played guitar and co-produced a song for A Tribe Called Quest lyricist Phife entitled "You Know You Want It."
Baldwin is especially excited about the AFAR educational workshops. He says, "I also teach guitar and bass and my students are really into hip-hop. It's amazing to show them that you can communicate through live instruments."
BASS: DeMuze
"When you remember a song, you remember the bass line. That's what keeps you humming. My job is to make sure people remember the tune and to leave an impression of the band," says AFAR bassist DeMuze.
As AFAR's only completely self-taught musician, DeMuze is the band's risk taker. "I do things you're not necessarily supposed to do. I eliminate a lot of barriers. I try things out to see how they sound and where to place them." His influences including Hub from The Roots, Chick Corea and hip-hop/R&B producers James Poyser and JD resonate in his music.
Like Baldwin, DeMuze has been playing his instrument for the last ten years. DeMuze started playing gospel music in church, and ironically, his first instrument wasn't the bass. Having started out playing drums, DeMuze is the ultimate addition to the rhythm section, the perfect complement to AFAR drummer Che. "Being a drummer also, I understand that the drums bring everything together and my job is to help the drummer fill it all up."
DRUMS: Che
"The drums are the heartbeat. You cannot dance with out a beat so I'm the part that will make you move," says AFAR drummer Che.
Rounding out the rhythm section, Che is a resourceful and inventive drummer, self-taught until he was formally educated in middle school. "I didn't have drums growing up. I played pots and pans to gospel records."
Che honed his craft in the same place where nearly all great musicians have: the church. Jazz and soul are also central to Che's sound. Professionally, Che has performed with "The UK's Queen of Soul" Julie Dexter.
Che is particularly proud to represent Atlanta on the live music stage. "The Roots showed the world their sound, and it's a Philly sound. Now it's time the Atlanta sound gets recognized."
MC: Jahah
"I'm not a writer, I'm not a freestyler. My style is not quite thought out. It's what comes to my head," says AFAR MC Jahah.
Bringing the improvisational spirit to rhyming, Jahah is a quadruple threat: he can rhyme, produce, sing, and even play keyboard. His range of ability can only be likened to that of a Wyclef Jean or Lauryn Hill.
Jahah and guitarist Marc Baldwin first made noise as members of critically hailed Atlanta band Good Company, and appeared on the well received independent release S.O.U.L.E.D. Out. Jahah shined as a guest on albums by Grammy winning rapper Speech (Arrested Development) and on his solo album Ear For Music, an underground classic throughout the Dirty South.
With lyrics ranging from ranging from love and struggle to having fun and partying, Jahah's flow has the carefree vibe and musicality of a producer who understands the importance of rhymes bonding with the music. "I love Barry White and Al Green because to me, the music comes first. With the older soul artists, there's so much substance in the music, even if you took away the words, the music still holds up."
***
In summing up the different live sounds of AFAR, drummer Che says "The more you have, the more flavor you have. It's the new spice." In the title of their 1996 album, A Tribe Called Quest aptly defined hip-hop as beats, rhymes and life. Now, AFAR has redefined hip-hop as music, rhymes and life.
曲目
01. The Beginning
02. No Time to Front
03. Movin On
04. Mic Check (feat. DJ Rasta Roots)
05. Oooh
06. A.F.A.R.
07. Watch Out (Mr. Moody & Black Superhero)
08. Dream On
09. Reality
10. Still Standing
11. ATL Anthem
12. Mic Check (Remix)
