Hot on the heels of his January gig at Cielo, Alexander Barck of Jazzanova, the six-member DJ/producer german collective, returned to the same intimate New York hotspot on Thursday April 13th for another night of expertly mixed funk, broken beat, brazil, latin, soul and jazz music.
Known the world over for their mastery of the art of remixing, Jazzanova just released on their own record label Sonar Kollektiv, ‘The Remixes 2002-2005’, their second compilation of remixes, which won ‘compilation of the year’ at Gilles Peterson’s 2005 Worldwide awards. The New York connoisseurs of leftfield music made this a sold-out event and they were in for a treat.
Alexander showed us again why his ecletic, genre-bending sets made him one of the most respected and in-demand DJ on this planet.The Jazzanova spirit can be best summed up in a 20 minute span when Alex mixed a samba cover version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Another Star’, a straight up latin jazz tune, a jazzy electro instrumental, Patrice Rushen’s Forget me knots and Cameo’s Strange, which opened the door for a broken beat/nu-dance set.
All along, Alex kept the crowd surprised, guessing and asking for more, but the cheers, applauses and whistles could have been stronger, and looking around the small but beautiful club, the culprit was obvious: David Resnick of the Love Intelligence Group. The VJ (video DJ)’s first appareance at Cielo was a hit with the crowd that could not get their eyes off of the huge screen displaying his video collage. While hugely popular in Europe and Japan, the VJ scene is only burgeoning in New York, and judging by the crowd’s response, it is here to stay.
But again, Alex stole the show with an uncompromising rare disco-funk set that got the crowd, including Danny Krivit (of Body & Soul fame), smiling and dancing in pure musical bliss. Throughout the evening, Alexander Barck connected the dots between musical styles, and, as usual in a Giant Step party, the crowd was as eclectic as the Dj set, and all music lovers, japanese hipsters and bankers alike left Cielo happy and satisfied. And now that you have family in New York, we hope to see much more of you, Alexander.
Cultural exchange under attack. MundoVibes speaks with Robert H. Browning of the World Music Institute.
There´s a vast cultural chill across the United States that is laying waste to the very values the nation was built upon. Using the Orwellian “War on Terror” as its guise, the Bush administration has declared war on virtually everything that makes America America. As citizens are distracted by economic woes, the war in Iraq and terror threats, its civil liberties and rights are being systematically and cunningly dismantled. Under the Bush con, America has become a dark place and the world has every reason to be concerned: fascism has once again reared its ugly head.
For those attuned to cultural exchange and artistic expression, the administration´s policies are having an enormously damaging effect. Whereas the United States has gained the respect of the world for its openness, today under Bush it is known for its restrictive and racist policies.
To those who value the right to experience other cultures, now is a particularly perilous time. Under its new visa policies, the United States is a forbidden land for many musicians, dancers and performers from those nations deemed a terror threat. In May, President Bush signed the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act, which requires extra background checks on people from countries deemed to be ”state sponsors of terrorism.” This includes citizens of Cuba, middle Eastern nations, France and anyone with a political perspective contrary to the Bush cons right-wing views.
Cultural exchange is truly at risk in the United States and many arts organizations are feeling the brunt of visa policies that make planning a performance or tour nearly impossible. The current policies for entrance into the U.S. by an artist require months of planning and hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for fees. The list of artists who have been unable to perform in the U.S. is long and growing, and includes DJs like France´s Laurent Garnier, Cuban artists like Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Allstars and Middle-Eastern artists such as Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami.
An organization that has served New York City and the U.S. with its mission of cultural exchange is the World Music Institute. As one of the largest promoters of world music, WMI has dealth extensively with the government´s visa policies and felt the chilling effect it is having on culture. Mundovibes spoke recently with its Executive & Artistic Director Robert H. Browning on cultural exchange in this most surreal time.
MundoVibes: How severely impacted have you been in your program by our current administration’s policies?
Robert H. Browning: It’s been tough although not quite as bad as some other people have had. We just had a recent problem with Orquestra Aragon, which is a Cuban band. And we just got them in time two days before the concert. We weren’t actually getting the visas for this—the tour managers were — but it was just phone calls back and forth to our lawyer in L.A. and to various congress people here. And finally it came through, but the biggest problem is that you don’t get any word back from the powers that be. For the most part it seems to be the FBI that’s the biggest problem from what I hear.
MV: And that would come from the top then?
RB: Well this is from our lawyer: the problem is that groups coming from the seven designated “evil axis” countries, so to speak, which includes Cuba have to go through God knows how many different agencies to be passed—literally a dozen agencies for it to pass through security. So, if one of them holds it up for a time, the whole thing gets held up. I mean, they applied for their visas four months ago, got the approval notice three months ago, then went in for their interviews about two months ago and were held up ever since then.
MV: So one never knows? Even at the last minute there can be a cancellation.
RB: Oh, absolutely. We had already sold like 800 tickets.
MV: I lived in Miami and it always seemed like it was very difficult for them to enter this country.
RB: Well, in Miami you unfortunately have the Cuban political lobby, which doesn’t even allow them to go to Miami even when they have been to the rest of the country. That’s more of a problem there.
MV: Did you notice a considerable obstacle that suddenly came up since September 11?
RB: To begin with, the biggest problem was artists canceling because they didn’t want to come at that time, right after September 11. There was already a problem put in place some months before then when the INS decided that they could not longer handle all of the visa requirements in the time allotted. So, we were usually turning around visa approval notices within about 10 to 15 days. And they then told us that from now on it would be 60 days, but within a couple of days they said 90 days and then shortly after that they said indeterminable time. Unless one pays $1,000 additional premium processing fee, and for an organization like us we just can’t afford not to pay the premium processing fee. For smaller groups, like small dance ensembles and music ensembles bringing in artists from abroad, it was kind of impossible for them with a limited budget. But for us it became imperative so we started doing it anyway. But then, of course, last July it became the whole issue of security arrangements where if you came from any one of about 32 countries they would have to go for a check after the approval notice comes and that check could take three months. And in actual fact it’s been taking longer in many cases. We had another cancellation just a few weeks ago with the Beijing Opera, that was meant to be touring all of the U.S. That was cancelled because they were refused their visas by the U.S. consul in Shin Yang. So, the consuls still have a lot of power in determining whether they think people are going to come back to their country or not or whether they think they form some kind of threat.
MV: Would you say that this whole terrorist threat is being used as a political tool.
RB: Well, I think it definitely was in the Cuba situation. It happened that all of these problems arose because of the very recent executions by Castro of the three guys that commandeered the ferry and the jailing of 75 dissidents. I’m quite sure this had an effect. Otherwise, I don’t know if it´s political so much as just plain incompetence. Just beaurocracies that are completely out of hand that just don’t know how to deal with this kind of situation.
MV: In the case of artists from the middle east, are they being singled out.
RB: Oh yeah, there have been a lot of problems. That can take up to three to six months even to get visas for them. And there´s a catch 22 situation because you cannot apply for a visa more than six months in advance.
MV: Do you think that overall impact is just a chilling effect on how you program?
RB: Well, the biggest chilling effect is basically if we bring in someone from abroad, normally you need to get a couple of other gigs to make it worthwhile bringing them in. And what’s happening across the country is people no longer trust booking artists, especially from the middle east, but from many other countries as well in asia. So, I think we’re going to see in the next year or two a lot less people coming from abroad to perform music, theater, in all of the performing arts really. I would say it’ll probably be down by at least 50%.
MV: That’s incredible. So, you would say there’s a tremendous cultural void that’s coming up.
RB: There will be. And that doesn’t apply just for world music, it’s applying to opera and international theater.
MV: Can you site any specific examples, apart from Orchestra Aragon, of just something that is almost ridiculous in terms of great anticipation of a tour and then for some reason it was cancelled.
RB: Well, the Chinese tour—there was no reason for that. That probably was a political thing as well because this is one of three major Beijing opera groups that regularly tour to Europe and other parts of Asia. And, for the consul general to hold it up for so long for a start, and then for him to say ‘these people have not proven that they have anything to come back to’ like family and what not is ridiculous. These are young people mostly, and as the director of one of the Chinatown associations said to me, ‘what do they want? Only young people can do this. Do they want to put me on stage at the age of 58?’ So, it’s really pretty ridiculous. OK, I know there have been defections in the past. But they’re pretty minimal.
And then the other thing that’s happening is that some artists are beginning now to boycott this country because of all the problems. Last year we had an Israeli singer coming in with five artists who were accompanying him who were of Arab descent and they all lived in Paris. And two of them had Moroccan passports and they US consul there insisted that they leave their passports with them for 30 days, which was totally ludicrous. They wouldn’t be able to leave Paris and go to say Germany or Holland or somewhere like that. So, they refused and finally the French artists came over on tourist visas, which is illegal. But it forces people into that kind of situation.
MV: You are a large organization and I’m sure it has an impact on your bottom line.
RB: Well, I think all of the problems involved this year have cost us at least another $30,000, either in increased fees or having to get lawyers or losses incurred by advertising for things that are cancelled. Or renting theaters because we don’t have our own theater. With Orquestra Aragon we would have lost another $25,000 if it hadn’t occurred.
MV: And for a smaller organization that would be…
RB: That would be impossible for smaller organizations. We’re kind of mid-sized in our budget, which is about $2.5 million, so we can just about handle this thing at this time and that’s only because we’ve had a few emergency grants from major foundations here to help us along in these difficult tim es.
MV: Just in general do you sense that the United States is getting increasingly xenophobic with exchange.
RB: Well, it certainly seems like that on the surface. It’s difficult to really know because the media has been so one-sided in this whole thing. In terms of pushing forward the agenda of the government, basically. And the fear factor of anyone being allowed to criticize. The democratic party has just capitulated to the status quo. And it just seems rather ridiculous—the second world war was one thing where obviously there was an absolute threat to the United States. But there was no real threat to the United States per se from Iraq. OK, there´s a terrorist threat but nobody yet has proven that there was any collaboration between the Iraqi government and the al queda or any of the other terrorist networks out there.
MV: And why should the artists have to suffer?
RB: Right. I always have said that one of the worst things that Jimmy Carter ever did during the cold war was to break off cultural relations with the Soviet Union. Because it was one of the few ways that there was some dialogue at least. I just think that at least we have some openings through culture and the problem is not just with artists but there are many scientists being held up, there are many research graduates in medical universities that are being held up. So, it’s not just the arts, a lot of medical research is being threatened.
MV: Do you have actual concert goers that give inflammatory comments on your programs?
RB: People are very tolerant. Right after 9/11 we did a number of concerts including that concert with the Israeli musician and Arab musicians together. A concert of the following day of a Lebanese composer where the audience was about 90% palestinian and lebanese. We have a very tolerant audience and a very supportive audience. And I know that when I’ve asked people to write to their congressman or their senator to try to help ease situations, that many of them have. And right now we feel we need to make a concerted effort because if we don’t things are just going to go merrily along and people will get more and more angry about what’s going on.
MV: It almost seems without the cultural platform or that feedback, if becomes more self-referential and plain ugly.
RB: Organizations such as ourselves are relied upon to bring over artists and to expose Americans. What is happening here is that Americans are being denied their right to see foreign artists and different cultural media. ‘We have a right, this is still a democracy. And I think we all want to maintain an open society here, where not only do we have free speech but we are able to indulge in it and question things and listen to other people’s point of view.
MV: What would you advise any concerned person to do.
RB: I really advise people to get in touch with their congressperson. And really hammer it home that it is important that we speed up the ability for people to get work visas over here. Because without that we’re going to just continue to have these problems.
Swedish Jazz Duo Koop Return With Koop Islands, a sentimental and sultry followup to Waltz For Koop
Koop Island
By J.C. Tripp
It’s a Friday night at Manhattan’s ultra-plush, Asian-themed Hiro Ballroom where Sweden’s electronic-jazz duo Koop have returned to peform after four years of laying low, presumably in some Caribbean hideout as the title of their new CD suggests. Anticipation runs high for their return to the stage with Koop Islands , the follow-up to the jazzy romantics of Waltz For Koop . Koop’s breezy sound had seduced hipsters and jazz lovers alike with sweet, effortless vibes laced with electronics. With “Koop Islands” the duo have re-invented themselves with a style called “swingtronica”, with influences of the classic Big Band sound of the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties. It’s an appropriate sound for the ballroom’s swanky “Blue Velvet” setting and the room slowly fills to capacity with the low level-hum of a crowd of jazzy and hipster types and heavy beats mixed by another nu jazz musician, Mocean Worker. Considering the time passed and the fact that the music scene Koop emerged from has lost much of its shelf life, it’ s reassuring to see so many turn out for the group. With the room at near-capacity, the lights dim and the group takes center stage with Koop’s two core members, Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson, taking their positions: Zingmark at the computer/turntables and Simonsson on accordian and vibes. They are accompanied by a full band which includes some of Sweden’s finest jazz musicians and the jazz vocalist Hilde Louise Asbjornsen who spares no time in seducing the crowd. As the sound of seagulls floats over the crowd, Simonsson plays the opening of the lovelorn “Island Blues” as Asbjornsen sings its heart-wrenching lyrics: “hello, my love it’s getting cold on this island. I’m so sad on my own. The truth is we were much too young. Now I’m looking for you or anyone like you.” As Asbjornsen weaves her spell on the crowd, accompanied by the band’s swinging jazztronic vibes, it’s clear that the night will belong to Koop.
Welcome to Koop Islands. A place where music and life swing to a slightly different drum. “Where Waltz For Koop” was steeped in a modern take on 60s jazz and swedish songstressess Koop Islands has – despite its name – very little to do with romanticising the Stockholm archipelago. Rather, it goes much, much further south west, all the way down the Caribbean for inspiration. That´s where you´ll find Koop Islands on their imaginary world map. Zingmark and Simonsson realised that sometimes the only way forwards is to go back. So back they went to the swing of the 1930s, the exoticism of forgotten orchestras and entertainers performing on late 40s yacht cruises to Jamaica. When listening to Koops music it’s somehow easy to believe that it’s played by a small orchestra, but in fact the music is based on samples. Thousands of small clips from records puzzled together into new songs. All the drums, strings, horn sections and choires are actually sampled.
The characteristic Koop vibes are now joined by marimbas, Gene Krupa-esque jungle drums and an ever present Cape Verdean Blues with just a hint of Mento.
This journey in time and music is what forms the foundation Koop Islands was built on. On their travels towards Koop Islands they were joined by their inner circle of friends, some of whom you might remember from “Waltz For Koop”. The amazing Yukimi Nagano with her free flowing vocals and her male counterpart – the criminally underrated Mikael Sundin. Ex-Galliano main man Rob Gallagher tells a heartbreaking tale that weaves together tennis ace Björn Borg with the sad story of the passing of a mother. On the american release of the album is a new track, Strange Love , Hilde Louise Asbjornsen. And, last but no way least, on the album´s title track the norweigan singer-songwriter Ane Brun heads out on her virgin tour of the Islands.
Even though Magnus and Oscar’s hearts and souls are filled with exotic and eclecticly swinging sounds the whole album was produced and recorded in their own tiny studio on Stockholm’s Södermalm.
MundoVibe interviewed the most gracious and friendly Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson before their New York City show.
MundoVibe: It’s interesting that anyone who knows where you re from would see the title Islands and any one who knows you and your music would think it s about the Swedish archipelago. But then it gets into the marimbas and you re drifting away. I wonder if that idea of the island is a metaphor for dreaming or escaping.
Oscar Simonsson: Absolutely, escaping and dreaming and also creating your own little world.
Magnus Zingmark: That s what we want to promote because you always get what kind of music are you? and we hear everything from nu jazz to whatever. And we think that we re making Koop music which is a unique sound.
Oscar Simonsson: We actually invented our own stupid word, swingtronica . It started as a joke in the studio because we always used to joke about all of these silly names of genres. It s just renaming music and trying to make it hip. So, it started as a joke but then we realized it s better to name it ourselves.
Magnus Zingmark: When we called it swingtronica for the first time in Sweden when we did interviews for the release one year ago journalists started using it, they really love the term swingtronica .
MV: People want to lock onto things and say this is what I listen to . The great thing about jazz has always been that it s so many things and I would consider you guys jazz artists above all.
Oscar Simonsson: To us, jazz is a rhythm. That s how we define it.
Magnus Zingmark: It s an easy way to define it. All other kinds of music are labeled after their rhythms rhumba or tango. It s a rhythm and it s not so much about how improvised it is. It could be a jazz tune without a solo. But I don t think there can be a jazz tune without a swing rhythm.
MV: So, let’s talk about Islands . What inspired it?
Magnus Zingmark: When the Waltz for Koop album got released, we started touring and we did this for two years and we did a lot of remixes for artists. We got kind of fed up with the sound we had. So, we realized we wanted to do something new. We didn t want to do the same album again. So, we thought what new elements can we bring in? . And we had been talking about using marimba for sometime. So, we started there, trying the marimba and seeing what it leads to. So, we had a few angles that we used and we listened to a lot of music and thought maybe we should try to incorporate some 30s jazz, some swing.
Oscar Simonsson: Yeah, but that came in when we started making samples because that s how we start. And build a library of samples and that was like three years ago when we started. And the swing stuff sounded really fresh. And then when we wrote the songs we started to add those swing elements.
Magnus Zingmark: But the trick was we managed to find some samples from recordings from the 60s and 70s playing swing songs, so the quality of the samples were really good. And it blended naturally.
MV: All of the tunes come together with the two of you? You have a lot of people involved with this recording with vocals.
Oscar Simonsson: The tunes are almost ready with samples. And then we usually on some songs we bring in a bass player. And then there s always the vocals and a solo instrument that s live. The song s are all written.
Magnus Zingmark: The lyrics are there and then we invite someone to sing. And occasionally they might co-write lyrics.
Oscar Simonsson: So, we write the first verse and it s really hard to make the second verse.
Magnus Zingmark: But that s the tough one to write, and the second one is not that hard.
MV: And when did it become Islands?
Oscar Simonsson: Our previous albums was Sounds of Koop , which was released ten years ago. And then Waltz for Koop . So, we wanted to keep the word Koop. And that s why it s very funny to discuss the alternatives when you re in the studio working. But it s actually close to Cook Islands . I think maybe we saw the word Cook Islands somewhere.
Magnus Zingmark: It sounds nice and it meant something as well.
Oscar Simonsson: Once we came up with that we wrote the first song, Koop Island Blues. And then we included it s getting cold on this island .
MV: There s a strong feeling of loss on that song and sadness.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah. It s when you ve grown up and you re in a relationship and you re bored and remember how easy it was when you were 17 and you were in love and there were no complications. You didn t really have to deal with life.
MV: Are you very much in control of everything? You did everything in your own studio.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah, we are trying different techniques. We are control freaks and want to control everything but sometimes it s good to try to loosen up a bit and see what happens. But in the end it s us sitting there with all of the recorded files, then we do as we please. It s the same thing with the solos. We record maybe four or five takes and then we cut it.
Oscar Simonsson: The thing is that Koop is something that happens between us. You know, we spend hours talking and spend a lot of time together in the studio, not only making music but talking and exchanging ideas.
Magnus Zingmark: It s a mix between our personalities, just us.
MV: We haven t touched upon your sort of alter egos as perfomers because you re going to be made up tonight and your going to be entering a performance space.
Magnus Zingmark: Well, I guess we started wearing makeup this time around because it s fun for us. And no-one has thrown eggs yet, so it seems to be working. It s just a fun thing and especially in the jazz world, which is very conservative and macho. It just comments to that, I guess.
MV: You have performed at North Sea Jazz Festival and Montreaux. I m curious how people react. Do they embrace you or do they say this is different.
Oscar Simonsson: It s different if you play in front of people who knows about Koop, about what Koop is. But if you just see Koop on stage you see a lot of musicians.
Magnus Zingmark: But, then again, in the Hague everybody s stoned so it doesn t really matter (laughter).
MV: Getting back to Islands and the influence of swing. What other influences are on it?
Magnus Zingmark: There some songs that have a rhythm and especially also the marimba gives the Caribbean feel. And that s the Caribbean angle on the album and the music. Koop Islands is also songs that are very much from the 60s like A Different You . And the last song, Whenever There s You could be a French jazz number from the 80s. And we like it, we have a lot of different ingredients.
Oscar Simonsson: We want people that don t know how it s made and about Koop, when you hear Koop for the first time you should be very confused. What time is it from? How is it made? Is it live or is it electronic? We like that confusion.
MV: Really, and nobody s thrown chairs at you?
Magnus Zingmark: Also, back in Sweden, the last album has been very successful. It s made it to the charts. And it s fun to, because the history of jazz is so filled with good song writing, not only instrumental it s good to be able to maybe lead with teenagers that may be into pop to say, we like this, this is good .
MV: Of course, then there are the purists.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah, of course but that s the flip side. But it s nice to get comments that people are discovering jazz because of us. Even if it s just Stan Getz playing bossa, they re buying something.
Oscar Simonsson: If we have any mission at all, it s really satisfying when we get pretty much a jazz tune on MTV with a video. That means you ve passed it on to a new generation.
MV: Well, going back to the nu jazz category, that did introduce a lot of people to jazz or to embracing music that bridges categories.
Magnus Zingmark: When we were growing up there were a lot of people who when acid jazz came along as a concept or a label became very hip people and then discovered soul jazz and then Jazz from the 60s and 50s. So, that s the way it goes.
Oscar Simonsson: And otherwise jazz will die.
MV: Absolutely, it can t be put into a museum to be preserved. Right now in New York I m disappointed with what most people are listening to. To me it s shit. Music like yours should be the popular music of today.
Magnus Zingmark: Well, we will see what happens. We d like to think this too. We were really happy to just release the album.
MV: You do have some tracks on Koop Islands that could really break out.
Oscar Simonsson: Yeah, Come to Me has been on TV with Grey s Anatomy and it will be heavily exposed on HBO.
MV: So, you re optimistic about the tour and the record.
Magnus Zingmark: If we re going to focus on anything it s going to be the U.S. and try to make something happen here. If nothing s happening, OK we ll do another album. The last time around in the U.S. it was small but we had some kind of foundation, I think we sold something like 50,000 albums. Worldwide it was 175,000. But it s also tough because it s a different market now. It s more about getting music in TV or playing live now.
MV: To get in a car ad or something.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah, yeah.
Oscar Simonsson: Ten years ago you could say you despise that, but now there s no option. Because people don t go into record stores and listen to music. And people are listening differently to music as well, they buying one song and two songs.
Magnus Zingmark: And for us also, because we don t want to compromise, so when we play live we have like eight people. And it s not cheap so we don t make any money.
Hilde Louise Asbjornsen performing with Koop on their US tour
Welcome to Koop Islands. A place where music and life swing to a slightly different drum. “Where Waltz For Koop” was steeped in a modern take on 60s jazz and swedish songstressess Koop Islands has despite its name – very little to do with romanticising the Stockholm archipelago. Rather, it goes much, much further south west, all the way down the Caribbean for inspiration. That´s where you´ll find Koop Islands on their imaginary world map. Zingmark and Simonsson realised that sometimes the only way forwards is to go back. So back they went to the swing of the 1930s, the exoticism of forgotten orchestras and entertainers performing on late 40s yacht cruises to Jamaica. When listening to Koops music it s somehow easy to believe that it s played by a small orchestra, but in fact the music is based on samples. Thousands of small clips from records puzzled together into new songs. All the drums, strings, horn sections and choires are actually sampled.
The characteristic Koop vibes are now joined by marimbas, Gene Krupa-esque jungle drums and an ever present Cape Verdean Blues with just a hint of Mento.
This journey in time and music is what forms the foundation Koop Islands was built on. On their travels towards Koop Islands they were joined by their inner circle of friends, some of whom you might remember from “Waltz For Koop”. The amazing Yukimi Nagano with her free flowing vocals and her male counterpart – the criminally underrated Mikael Sundin. Ex-Galliano main man Rob Gallagher tells a heartbreaking tale that weaves together tennis ace Björn Borg with the sad story of the passing of a mother. On the american release of the album is a new track, Strange Love , Hilde Louise Asbjornsen. And, last but no way least, on the album´s title track the norweigan singer-songwriter Ane Brun heads out on her virgin tour of the Islands.
Even though Magnus and Oscars hearts and souls are filled with exotic and eclecticly swinging sounds the whole album was produced and recorded in their own tiny studio on Stockholms Södermalm.
MundoVibe interviewed the most gracious and friendly Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson before their New York City show.
MV: So, let s talk about Islands . What inspired it?
Magnus Zingmark: When the Waltz for Koop album got released, we started touring and we did this for two years and we did a lot of remixes for artists. We got kind of fed up with the sound we had. So, we realized we wanted to do something new. We didn t want to do the same album again. So, we thought what new elements can we bring in? . And we had been talking about using marimba for sometime. So, we started there, trying the marimba and seeing what it leads to. So, we had a few angles that we used and we listened to a lot of music and thought maybe we should try to incorporate some 30s jazz, some swing.
Oscar Simonsson: Yeah, but that came in when we started making samples because that s how we start. And build a library of samples and that was like three years ago when we started. And the swing stuff sounded really fresh. And then when we wrote the songs we started to add those swing elements.
Magnus Zingmark: But the trick was we managed to find some samples from recordings from the 60s and 70s playing swing songs, so the quality of the samples were really good. And it blended naturally.
MundoVibe: It s interesting that anyone who knows where you re from would see the title Islands and any one who knows you and your music would think it s about the Swedish archipelago. But then it gets into the marimbas and you re drifting away. I wonder if that idea of the island is a metaphor for dreaming or escaping.
Oscar Simonsson: Absolutely, escaping and dreaming and also creating your own little world.
Magnus Zingmark: That s what we want to promote because you always get what kind of music are you? and we hear everything from nu jazz to whatever. And we think that we re making Koop music which is a unique sound.
Oscar Simonsson: We actually invented our own stupid word, swingtronica . It started as a joke in the studio because we always used to joke about all of these silly names of genres. It s just renaming music and trying to make it hip. So, it started as a joke but then we realized it s better to name it ourselves.
Magnus Zingmark: When we called it swingtronica for the first time in Sweden when we did interviews for the release one year ago journalists started using it, they really love the term swingtronica .
MV: People want to lock onto things and say this is what I listen to . The great thing about jazz has always been that it s so many things and I would consider you guys jazz artists above all.
Oscar Simonsson: To us, jazz is a rhythm. That s how we define it.
Magnus Zingmark: It s an easy way to define it. All other kinds of music are labeled after their rhythms rhumba or tango. It s a rhythm and it s not so much about how improvised it is. It could be a jazz tune without a solo. But I don t think there can be a jazz tune without a swing rhythm.
MV: All of the tunes come together with the two of you? You have a lot of people involved with this recording with vocals.
Oscar Simonsson: The tunes are almost ready with samples. And then we usually on some songs we bring in a bass player. And then there s always the vocals and a solo instrument that s live. The song s are all written.
Magnus Zingmark: The lyrics are there and then we invite someone to sing. And occasionally they might co-write lyrics.
Oscar Simonsson: So, we write the first verse and it s really hard to make the second verse.
Magnus Zingmark: But that s the tough one to write, and the second one is not that hard.
MV: And when did it become Islands?
Oscar Simonsson: Our previous albums was Sounds of Koop , which was released ten years ago. And then Waltz for Koop . So, we wanted to keep the word Koop. And that s why it s very funny to discuss the alternatives when you re in the studio working. But it s actually close to Cook Islands . I think maybe we saw the word Cook Islands somewhere.
Magnus Zingmark: It sounds nice and it meant something as well.
Oscar Simonsson: Once we came up with that we wrote the first song, Koop Island Blues. And then we included it s getting cold on this island .
MV: There s a strong feeling of loss on that song and sadness.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah. It s when you ve grown up and you re in a relationship and you re bored and remember how easy it was when you were 17 and you were in love and there were no complications. You didn t really have to deal with life.
MV: Are you very much in control of everything? You did everything in your own studio.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah, we are trying different techniques. We are control freaks and want to control everything but sometimes it s good to try to loosen up a bit and see what happens. But in the end it s us sitting there with all of the recorded files, then we do as we please. It s the same thing with the solos. We record maybe four or five takes and then we cut it.
Oscar Simonsson: The thing is that Koop is something that happens between us. You know, we spend hours talking and spend a lot of time together in the studio, not only making music but talking and exchanging ideas.
Magnus Zingmark: It s a mix between our personalities, just us.
MV: We haven t touched upon your sort of alter egos as perfomers because you re going to be made up tonight and your going to be entering a performance space.
Magnus Zingmark: Well, I guess we started wearing makeup this time around because it s fun for us. And no-one has thrown eggs yet, so it seems to be working. It s just a fun thing and especially in the jazz world, which is very conservative and macho. It just comments to that, I guess.
MV: You have performed at North Sea Jazz Festival and Montreaux. I m curious how people react. Do they embrace you or do they say this is different.
Oscar Simonsson: It s different if you play in front of people who knows about Koop, about what Koop is. But if you just see Koop on stage you see a lot of musicians.
Magnus Zingmark: But, then again, in the Hague everybody s stoned so it doesn t really matter (laughter).
MV: Getting back to Islands and the influence of swing. What other influences are on it?
Magnus Zingmark: There some songs that have a rhythm and especially also the marimba gives the Caribbean feel. And that s the Caribbean angle on the album and the music. Koop Islands is also songs that are very much from the 60s like A Different You . And the last song, Whenever There s You could be a French jazz number from the 80s. And we like it, we have a lot of different ingredients.
Oscar Simonsson: We want people that don t know how it s made and about Koop, when you hear Koop for the first time you should be very confused. What time is it from? How is it made? Is it live or is it electronic? We like that confusion.
MV: Really, and nobody s thrown chairs at you?
Magnus Zingmark: Also, back in Sweden, the last album has been very successful. It s made it to the charts. And it s fun to, because the history of jazz is so filled with good song writing, not only instrumental it s good to be able to maybe lead with teenagers that may be into pop to say, we like this, this is good .
MV: Of course, then there are the purists.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah, of course but that s the flip side. But it s nice to get comments that people are discovering jazz because of us. Even if it s just Stan Getz playing bossa, they re buying something.
Oscar Simonsson: If we have any mission at all, it s really satisfying when we get pretty much a jazz tune on MTV with a video. That means you ve passed it on to a new generation.
MV: Well, going back to the nu jazz category, that did introduce a lot of people to jazz or to embracing music that bridges categories.
Magnus Zingmark: When we were growing up there were a lot of people who when acid jazz came along as a concept or a label became very hip people and then discovered soul jazz and then Jazz from the 60s and 50s. So, that s the way it goes.
Oscar Simonsson: And otherwise jazz will die.
MV: Absolutely, it can t be put into a museum to be preserved. Right now in New York I m disappointed with what most people are listening to. To me it s shit. Music like yours should be the popular music of today.
Magnus Zingmark: Well, we will see what happens. We d like to think this too. We were really happy to just release the album.
MV: You do have some tracks on Koop Islands that could really break out.
Oscar Simonsson: Yeah, Come to Me has been on TV with Grey s Anatomy and it will be heavily exposed on HBO.
MV: So, you re optimistic about the tour and the record.
Magnus Zingmark: If we re going to focus on anything it s going to be the U.S. and try to make something happen here. If nothing s happening, OK we ll do another album. The last time around in the U.S. it was small but we had some kind of foundation, I think we sold something like 50,000 albums. Worldwide it was 175,000. But it s also tough because it s a different market now. It s more about getting music in TV or playing live now.
MV: To get in a car ad or something.
Magnus Zingmark: Yeah, yeah.
Oscar Simonsson: Ten years ago you could say you despise that, but now there’s no option. Because people don’t go into record stores and listen to music. And people are listening differently to music as well, they buying one song and two songs.
Magnus Zingmark: And for us also, because we don’t want to compromise, so when we play live we have like eight people. And it s not cheap so we don t make any money.
He may love Baile Funk but DJ Sabo’s heart is in New York City. DJ Sabo has the city’s melting pot sensibility pulsing through his veins and his blood is the color of many cultures. Sabo has been serving up spicy beats for a decade, gaining international props and passport stamps from Brazil, Spain, Dominican Republic, Austria, Mexico, and Kosovo, as well as various cities in the US.
His productions include seven EP releases on his own label Sol*Selectas, two 12″ releases on Wonderwheel Recordings, and a full length album, “Global Warmbeats” with production partner Zeb. From Brazilian to Afrobeat, Disco to Reggae, Hip Hop to Dub, Miami Bass to House, Latin to Techno, Sabo flows seamlessly from one genre to the next.
If you haven’t caught him spinning around town you may need to step outside your box: He’s been a special guest at Turntables on the Hudson parties for the last 7 years, manages the Turntable Lab NY store, is an instructor at the Scratch DJ Academy, and has DJ residencies at Bembe, APY, and Nublu in NYC. He Dj’ed the infamous PS-1 Warmup Party in 2003, The Cooper Hewitt After Work Series in 2004 – 2006, and was nominated to URB magazine’s Annual ‘Next 100′ in 2006. He’s opened up for the bands Yerba Buena, Brazilian Girls, Antibalas, The Pimps of Joytime, and Si*Se, and has remixed tracks for Nickodemus, J-Boogie, El Guincho, DJ Sun, Nappy G, Kokolo Afrobeat Orhcestra, Los Monos, Pacha Massive Sound System, and Balkan Beat Box. Did we say this man is busy?
Mundovibe managed to track down DJ Sabo in his bassment lab (Turntable Lab that is) and make contact. In addition to his signature “funky music to make you feel good” style Sabo is also disarmingly nice and after his stint DJing for Huffpost’s inaugural party he was kind enough to be interviewed by Mundovibe via e-mail and to supply us with four hot mixes for our reader’s listening pleasure.
MV: DJ Sabo, congratulations on the release of “Global Warmbeats”, a truly worldly, mellifluous and deeply rhythmic recording. How did this full-length recording happen?
SABO: Gracias! This album started basically as me wanting to produce/remix tracks and having no clue how to do it. I started paying Zeb to come to my house and tutor me in Reason. I already had all the loops and samples and ideas ready to go, and Zeb would show me how to arrange and mix everything. After only a month or two we had like 4 tracks done. After that the songs were becoming more collaborations than tutor sessions, so we decided to just keep going and make a whole record.
The NewMastersounds are leading the funk revival with their four-piece band of guitar, bass, drums and organ. With a career that began with a DJ Keb Darge produced single and now five albums released the band are a global funk phenomenon. Mundovibe caught up with band leader Eddie Roberts to discuss their rise to the top of the funk heap.
Funk music is hard to pin down — much like jazz it’s really beyond defining. But if there’s one sure thing about it, it’s that it just keeps on grooving and when it hits you, you feel no pain. And even though funk as we knew it may have passed with the death of its Godfather, James Brown, there’s more than enough reason to believe that this sweaty, rhythm heavy sound is back and better than ever. Call it the baby boomerang effect on music: kids of baby boomers (and the parents too) have shown a renewed fervor for vinyl records, analogue sounds, 60’s &70’s soul along with classic funk of bands like the Meters, Grant Green, James Brown and a whole slew of more obscure bands. They’re digging the funk.
And it’s not just music fans that are sharing the love for funk: a whole new generation of retro-funk bands have emerged on the scene, injecting a new breath of hot, sweaty air and a new “deep funk” sensibility to the music. Bands like the U.S.’s Breakestra, Australia’s the Bamboos and England’s NewMastersounds pay homage to funk’s golden era while moving the sound forward with a more DJ-like approach that is less congested and more spacious and beat heavy.
Leading the way from across the pond are Leeds, England’s The NewMastersounds. One can be forgiven if this group of four aren’t on their list of leading funk bands – that is, if you’ve never heard their music. Upon listening to their deep, open-ended and warm sound it’s apparent why the NewMastersounds are blowing up on the international funk scene and are now taking America one show at a time. These guys get it and clearly want others to join in.
Their live giging has taken them around the world and introduced their sound to a growing legion of fans. As well as playing club gigs in France, Spain, Belgium and Italy, the band toured the US and Japan and the US is becoming a second home for the band. They appear regularly at the House of Blues, Gratefulfest and have performed at the prestigious High Sierra Music Festival annually since 2005 and are constantly touring and delivering their fat funk to dedicated fans and new ones alike. Their hard work is paying off as the NewMastersounds are being “buzzed up” by those in the know.
The U.S. funk revival is a recent one in comparison to the UK’s which began in the late ‘80s with DJs like Keb Darge who coined the term “deep funk” along with Mark Cotgrove, aka Snowboy (read our Snowboy interview here). Ironically enough, Darge had only discovered this sound after selling off his original soul record collection and being left with what he had originally referred to as “junk music” that he picked up in the United States on his many jaunts to find northern soul records there and in the UK. Though Britain had not been part of the initial funk wave of the ‘60s-‘70s, the scene grew as an underground subculture with DJs laying down the funk for hungry audiences at venues like London’s Club Ormones.
John Tripp Creative 