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The Harlem Experiment
- Avg user rating:
Out of 9 votes
Out of 9 votes
- Location: New York City, New York, United States
- Genre: Jazz » Contemporary Jazz
Editor's review
The Harlem stop on Ropeadope's tour of great music cities does justice to the terrific concept. Rightly treating the famous neighborhood as more than just the locale of Ellington's A Train, it mixes the celebrated swing with abstract funk, punchy modern beats, and even bits of folk and klezmer.
Biography
On October 30, indie label Ropeadope will release The Harlem Experiment, the third installment in their city "experiment" series. The "experiment" albums are jazz-inspired collaborations by well-known local musicians who set out to capture the sound and spirit of their hometowns.
The first two in the series focus on Philadelphia (music provided by ?uestlove Ahmir Thompson, Christian McBride, and Uri Cane) and Detroit (featuring Regina Carter, Marcus Belgrave, Bennie Maupin and others). So why Harlem? According to label president Andy Blackman Hurwitz: "The history, the present and the future. We look to Harlem as ground zero for all that is modern day 'American' music - whether you call it jazz, R&B, hip-hop or rock, all of it passed through the neighborhood's gates."
The Harlem Experiment takes on the melting pot identity of Harlem, from the early Jewish enclaves to the epicenter of African-American culture to the Latin legacy of Spanish Harlem titans like Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri. The Harlem House Band features Carlos Alomar (guitar, David Bowie), Eddy Martinez (keys, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Run D.M.C.), Steven Bernstein (trumpet, Sex Mob), Steve Berrios (drums, Chick Corea), Don Byron (clarinet, The Klezmatics,Vernon Reid) and Ruben Rodriguez (bass, Tito Puente). Grammy Award-Winning producer Aaron Levinson, creator of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, produced the album.
An audio homage to Harlem would clearly have to include jazz, funk and hip-hop, given that Harlem is synonymous with James Brown's 'Live At The Apollo' and Duke Ellington's "Stompin' At The Savoy." The Harlem Experiment does just that with its' big beats, horns, and swagger. But the project also digs deep into Harlem's illustrious roots and gives shout-outs to the Jewish and Spanish communities that also helped tocreate one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world. It makes sense that Latin rhythms are laced throughout the jazz and hip-hop of tracks like "One For Jackie," and "It's Just Begun." It makes sense that the Klezmer style of Don Byron's clarinet transcends the playful jazz on "Reefer Man" and the funkified Yiddish folk song "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen."
"The Harlem Experiment" achieves a mighty task: summing up the cultural rainbow of Harlem in 50 minutes of music. Listen to this album and 100 years of Harlem begins to unfold in your ears.
