Here are a few moments from an iconic evening with hip hop royalty at the Blue Note NYC from January 24, 2022!
The evening was a musical history lesson, bringing hip hop greats Talib Kweli and Slick Rick together with jazz legend Bob James.
While James is recognized as one of the progenitors of smooth jazz, his music has also had a profound effect on the history of hip hop. Two of James’ songs – “Nautilus” from 1974’s One and “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” from 1975’s Two – are among the most sampled in hip hop history. To illustrate, the title track from his 1981 album Sign of the Times was sampled in De La Soul‘s “Keepin’ the Faith”, and Warren G‘s “Regulate”.
“Angela” was sampled in the track “Cab Fare” by Souls of Mischief. The track “El Verano” from the 1977 album “BJ4” is used as a sample in the song “Blown Away” by the Cocoa Brovaz and also in the Masta Ace Track “NY Confidential”. N.W.A‘s “Alwayz into Somethin’” uses a sample of “Storm King” from the album Three.
“Can’t Wait” by Redman features a sample of “Caribbean Nights” from the album Touchdown. In addition, James is mentioned in a verse by André 3000 on “Black Ice” from Goodie Mob’s second album Still Standing.
It was an awesome show performing with Talib Kweli & Slick Rick at Blue Note NYC!