Jean-Paul Bourelly • Trance Atlantic (Boom Bop II)

This record was a very involved project as was the first Boom Bop. It involved bringing together two different cultures and finding ways of communication that would bring about a musical statement that was not a layering of different cultures but a mixing of sounds influences thought patterns, themes. A seemless arrangement of sounds and feelings. A cross-polinisation that would bring seeds for a new musical vocabulary out of a turbulant past.
A forum that also seeks to embrace the quest of rediscovering the African feeling and musical codes. The feelings that stand proudly in African traditional music but has too often had to survive in the shadow of secrecy, justification and subversion in western culture. These mystical feelings,forms devices and attitudes have survived but their roots have been obscured through the middle passage and the hundreds of years of slavery and assimulation.
I often asked myself why did so much have to be destroyed for such selfish purposes, and fear? What keeps coming through as a positive light from the horror is mans will to adapt,survive and then thrive.
Blue, jazz, rock where all musical forms that came together through a need to adapt. Adapt to the instuments that were available and to the new formation of musical cultures that wanted and needed to connect in order to express what they had inside..
Even Rap music was a consequence of the lack of musical instruments and therefore the turntable elevating itself to being more than a mechanical device to play vinyl recordings on; combined with the need to deliver a empowering message. A much needed message to the street.



As then so is this a needed offering to the streets. An offering to fill some of the vast blank spaces of the incompleteness that exist in middle passage history. An offering to the conscious ears, to heal some of the collective subconscious wounds on all sides and to all those creative minds Boom Bop II will touch; that it may be a source to trigger more creative expresson to bring the world closer together and celebrate the common bound of being human and mans will to express ALL of who he is, to, with and for each other.
Jean-Paul Bourelly

Jean-Paul Bourelly • guitars & sonic treatments
Abdourahmane Diop • vocals
Carl Bourelly • keyboards & programming
Joseph Bowie • trombone
Olu Dara • cornet
Henry Threadgill • alto saxophone, flute
Vincent Henry • alto and tenor saxophones
Melvin Gibbs • electric bass
Reggie Workman • acoustic bass
Orbert "Big Royale" Talamachus • contra boom bass
Will Calhoun • drums, Korg Wave Drum
Dennis Chambers • drums

Horn arrangements by Marcus Persiani

Produced by the Bourelly Brothers and Big Brother Balboa

Harmofunkalodica

rhys chatham • hard edge

I first started playing trumpet with rap electronic rhythms around 1984, but I was in weird position. I was already a fully developed musician, but I had only been playing trumpet for a year when I got into rap rhythms. So I wasn't ready to play out on the instrument, even though I wanted to. So what I decided to do was keep my trumpet playing in the closet for the most part until I was ready on a technical level to come out. In the meantime, I continued to develop my work with electric guitars that I had started in 1977. But by 1993, I felt I was ready to make the switch over, so that's what I did.

Making the Hard Edge album was a completely different story. I had accomplished what I originally set out to do on the Neon CD, which was to make the trumpet sound a bit like a guitar. For the Wire Edition CD, I wanted to achieve as much variety as possible in the playing I did, where some of the tracks would be open trumpet, some with mute, and some completely fuzzed out and distorted. However, another element came into play...

...Trevor (Manwaring) suggested that I go into a studio with Gary Smith , Pat Thomas, Lou Ciccotelli and Gary Jeff and do a "first take" kind of approach, I was kind of nervous about this. But after an initial playing session in London with the musicians in question, I loosened up and decided to go for it. It's a different kind of sound than I would normally go for, and I ended up being very pleased with the result.

I had forgotten how much I like playing with live musicians, especially drums and bass. It was a real pleasure working with Lou and Gary Jeff, who were coming out of the band God/Ice as well as playing in Mass. Drum 'n' bass is all very well, but nothing replaces the energy of a live drummer and bass player on stage. I had almost forgotten this until I played with these guys.
Rhys Chatham Interviewed by Rob Young 1999

1. Hard Edge
2. Wave
3. Flecks
4. Six Die
5. Dots
6. Supple Shape
7. Mellow Mind
8. Scratch
9. Crackle
10. Flash
11. Hiptwist
12. Rough Edge
13. Flesh
14. The Boiler
•
Rhys Chatham • Electric and Acoustic Trumpet
Gary Smith • Electric Stereo Guitar
Pat Thomas • Keyboards and Live Electronics
Gary Jeff • Bass and Live Electronics
Lou Ciccotelli • Drums, Percussion
•
"Contextual questions are no longer an issue for me"
Rhys Chatham

b.y.o.b. • b.y.o.b.

Michael Ivey's follow-up to the perceived semi-misfire of Not in Kansas Anymore was this fun and funky side excursion on his 13 Records label, bringing together several folks in his musical circle for a series of collaborations and solo turns. Call it his equivalent of a common hip-hop practice, a compilation, or lead album with a variety of side performers, the better to introduce a whole bunch of folks associated with a key production core. The same general sense of musical reach from Basehead is here, with Ivey playing a variety of instruments while his various guests, including central performers Jay Nichols on drums and Bill Conway on bass, play around with musical roles in their own right. Everything's a little less rigorously arranged and quirky than Basehead's efforts; and while odd samples creep in around the edges (check out the series of phone conversations at the end of "Too Good to Let Go"), often the feeling is more of a series of funky jams that were recorded just to see what happened. One Citizen Cope provides full DJ/scratching duties on "Change It" (featuring a hilarious/disturbing parody by Bruce Gardner of amoral gangsta poseurs) and "The Rackett," but otherwise it's a live band thing and a pretty good one at that. Ivey doesn't do as much vocalizing; he offers up some cryptic rambles on "Ramifications of Shaking One's Ass" over his good efforts on wah-wah, but otherwise he concentrates on the music. Of the guest performances, Uncle Clarence the Thomas' slow and sharp funk/soul effort "Distances" and 2Unique's sweetly sharp political raps on "A Day Off in the Life" stand out the most. "Go Jazz Go," an (unsurprisingly) jazzy instrumental, and Ivey's other vocal turn, "Ramblifications of Getting and Saying High," also are worthy of interest.
~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

1. Too Good To Let Go
(Featuring MS. JUSTINE HALL On Vocals)
Bass - Mike Ivey
Drums - Jay Nichols
Vocals - Justine Hall
Organ, Programming - Bruce Gardner
Percussion - Smacky
Scratches - Citizen Cope

2. Ramifications Of Shaking One's Ass
Bass - Bill Conway
Drums - Jay Nichols
Guitar, Voice - Mike Ivey
Percussion - Bruce Gardner

3. Change It
(Featuring BLUCE GARDNER Upon The Vocals And Keyboardsolothang)
Bass - Mike Ivey
Keyboards, Vocals - Bruce Gardner
Guitar - Bill Conway
Programmed By, Scratches - Citizen Cope

4. Distances
(Featuring UNCLE CLARENCE THE THOMAS)
Drums - Jay Nichols
Featuring - Uncle Clarence The Thomas
Guitar - Bill Conway
Harmonica - Dan McGuire
Keyboards, Low Frequencies - Marco Delmar
Vocals - Muriel Brown
Percussion - Aaron Burroughs , Bruce Gardner

5. Go Jazz Go
Bass - Walter Cosby
Drums, Keyboards - Jay Nichols
Flute, Saxophone - Carl Cornwell
Guitar - Tony Cothran
Percussion - Aaron Burroughs , Heartbeat

6. Outerspacegethithang
Bass - Bill Conway
Drums, Percussion - Jay Nichols
Electric Piano, Guitar - Mike Ivey
Keyboards - Bruce Gardner
Percussion - Aaron Burroughs

7. Rambilfications Of Getting & Saying Hi
Bass - Bill Conway
Guitar - Mike Ivey
Percussion - Aaron Burroughs
Percussion, Programmed By [Beats] - Jay Nichols
Beats - Citizen Cope

8. A Day Off In The Life
(Featuring 2UNIQUE)
Bass - Marco Delmar
Bass, Keyboards - Mike Ivey
Bells, Beats - Jay Nichols
Featuring - 2 Unique
Percussion - Aaron Burroughs
Beats, Scratches - Citizen Cope
Vocals - Beth , Cheryl

9. The Rackett
(Featuring CITIZEN COPE)
Bass - Bill Conway
Featuring - Citizen Cope
Percussion - Heartbeat

10. Where Ya Going To?
(Vocal Performances By BRUCE AND JUSTINE)
Backing Vocals - Muriel
Backing Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards - Mike Ivey
Drums - Jay Nichols
Guitar - Marco Delmar
Percussion - Bruce Gardner
Scratches - Citizen Cope
Vocals - Bruce Gardner , Justine Hall

Producer Michael Ivey

Basehead • Play with Toys

An alternative rap cult favorite, Play with Toys is the mysterious Basehead's shining moment. Originally released by the long-gone Émigré label -- an American 4AD wannabe with a design wing and everything -- the album is Basehead rapper/producer/leader Michael Ivey's snoozy vision of "slacker rap," which is organic, lazy, smart, and head over heels in love with beer for some reason. Hops and barley and their negative effects on the body are the topic of "2000 B.C.," a slow shuffling track with loose guitars, real live drums, and Ivey's echoing mumbles pining the loss of 2000 brain cells. "Ode to My Favorite Beer" opens with the sound of a pop-top, then slides into a strange soundscape that comes very close to the dream pop of A.R. Kane, making another 4AD connection. When Ivey delivers "Clair and Cliff Huxtable never lived around here" on the great "Better Days," he's depressed, not ghetto proud like the hardcore ballers would sound. Filled with these lackadaisical, down-and-out moments, this debut album with a hangover isn't for everyone. It really didn't have much of an influence once alternative rap and indie rap began to flourish, either, but Toys deserves its cult status and sounds like little else in the hip-hop universe.
~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide

Michael Ivey • Guitar, Vocals, Other Stuff
Brian Hendrix • Live Drums
Bruce 'Kool Aid' Gardner • Live Drums
Paul 'DJ Unique' Howard • Scratches
Bass and Feedback solo on "Play with Toys"
by
Bob DeWald and Marco Delmar respectively
Various voices by
Bob, Mike, Brian, Bruce, Claude H., Samar, Marco, Bonita & Yolanda

Written, mixed and Produced by Michael Ivey

Mikey Dread • Word War III

Michael Campbell, a.k.a. Mikey Dread was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music. His abilities, technical expertise, and unique vocal delivery combined to create a unique sound that told the listener emphatically that it was the “Dread at the Controls.”

Mikey Dread's avid interest in reggae music led him to acquire an immense collection of crucial vinyl which he used to gain notoriety as a young DJ and audio engineer with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) where he began his broadcasting career in 1976. There he developed his own unique broadcasting style, which has been adopted by virtually every reggae radio show in Jamaica and the world today. His radio show, which became known as "Dread at the Controls," was firmly established as the ‘Number One Radio Show’ in Jamaica. Mikey Dread was awarded "Top Radio Personality of the Year in 1977-1978."

Michael George Campbell (1954 - 2008)

While working with The Clash he released his third album called “World War III” (1980). “World War III” became instant success and held the number one position on the British Reggae Charts. To this day “Word War III” has been considered one of the top Reggae albums of all time.
The "Breakdown the Walls" single from this album was used in the soundtrack for the movie "Walcott," a British Television Movie Series aired on Central TV, London, ITV Network.
www.mikeydread.com


1. The Jumping Master
2. Break Down The Walls
3. Jah Jah Love (In The Morning)
4. Israel (12 Tribe) Stylle (Extended Play)
5. Money Dread
6. Mental Slavery
7. Skin Head Skank
8. Losers, Weepers, Finders Keepers
9. World War III (Extended Play)
10. Warrior Stylee *
11. Datc Masterpiece *
12. Break Down The Dub *
13. Seekers Dub *
14. Jamaican Dub *
15. Flat Fee Dub *

*Bonus tracks

Mikey Dread • Voacals
Earl Sixteen, Edi Fitzroy, Watty Burnett • Backing Vocals
Gladstone Anderson • Piano
Errol "Flabba" Holt • Bass
Lincoln "Style" Scott • Drums
Felix "Deadley" Headley • Alto Saxophone
Noel "Sowell" Bailey • Lead Guitar
Bingy Bunny • Rhythm
Dalton Brownie • Rhythm
Anthony Nelson "Steelie" • Organ
Bongo Herman • Percussion
Scully • Percussion

Recorded at Channel One Studios and Aquarius Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, with the Roots Radics providing the backing.

Mixed At King Tubby's Studio, Waterhouse, Kingston, Jamaica.
by "Scientist" Overton Brown & Michael Campbell

Written and Arranged and Produced By
Michael Campbell

Label: Dread At The Controls – TNT1 CD

Format: 320

Country: US

Released: 1980

Genre: Reggae

Style: Roots Reggae, Dub

Gettovetts • Missionaries Moving

“I’m pretty sure nobody heard “Lecture”,” smiled Bill Laswell, a few years ago when I was in his apartment coveting his framed Basquiat Beat Bop sleeve (for Rammellzee Vs K-Rob’s 12"). As Gettovetts’ producer, Laswell had been looking for the perfect loop for the guy who called himself “The #1 Stain On The Train”. Then he found a recording of the Tokyo bullet express – a sure bet. So the podium became a platform and there’s Rammel, arriving, how do you say, too freaking early, holding a purple suitcase full of watches he designed (he attended Fashion Institute of Technology, briefly), none of which could tell time from a hole in a worm – each has an expended 9mm slug burrowing into its face. (“Their crystals hold information from a crushed galaxy,” he’d told me). The beat wheezes into the station and then chugs off and vanishes into a blurring horn, three stops away. An aria wanders the tracks looking for her head, only to find a symphony that’s been out in the sun too long.


That’s “Lecture”. Not quite a first date song, too medieval for the Golden Age of Rap, and certainly in the ‘At Risk’ category for Island Records. Not that a line like “sneeze with me” isn’t catchy as a word virus. And how about that Double Dutch helix: “This twine turns the rope of your mind like DNA codes.”


“Rammel did that in one take without anything written down,” says Laswell. “It’s powerful if you hear it. It’s coming from the other side. I have no idea what he’s saying and I’m quite sure he doesn’t either. But that’s irrelevant. It’s been said. And the monks are in there. That’s important.”

Maybe the order should’ve been steal beer first, then listen to “Lecture”. Maybe my friends would’ve cottoned on to it if they knew Rammellzee was wearing pedestrian traffic mirrors on his pants. He borrowed them from the Holland Tunnel crosswalk near his old loft, next to Grabler Pipe Fitters. Or Garbled Pipe Fitters, since words have a mind of their, well, you know. We’re all in the business of voice box resection over here and transposition is but a slip of the razor under tongue. What’s the word, I give you hell. The only thing coherent is the epoxy that held this moment together. And that too would lose its grip.
www.thewire.co.uk

1 Battle Call
2 Gangster Lean
3 Go Down! Now Take Your Balls!
4 Death Command
5 Dead Men Tell No Tales
6 Lecture

•

Rammellzee • vocals, vocoder
Shockdell • vocals
Nicky Skopelitis • guitar, Fairlight CMI
Bill Laswell • bass, drums
D.ST. • turntable
Bootsy Collins • bass [4]

Produced- Bill Laswell and Nicky Skopelitis