Madlib - Shades Of Blue (Album Review)

 

Madlib - Shades Of Blue

(2003)


My copy: 2023 remastered reissue by Blue Note and UMe.


Cult hip-hop icon Otis Jackson Jr. (AKA Madlib, Beat Konducta, Quasimoto, etc.) owes much of his career to his love of jazz music. Building his name by fusing obscure jazz samples into snappy beats, Madlib struck a deal with legendary jazz outpost Blue Note Records to release a collection of remixes of anything he desired from the label’s back catalog. The resulting album - Shades Of Blue - is a quaint playground of subtle melody, elevated by additional instrumentation and hypnotic mixing techniques. 

Interspersed throughout the record are interludes and shoutouts, giving Shades Of Blue a special late-night radio program vibe that pairs well with Madlib’s rearrangements. Swinging bass and quiet vibraphone adorn “Slim’s Return,” with low end being bumped up just enough to match the pace set by the hip-hop record scratching and vocal ad-libs. Madlib highlights the original sentiments of the jazz movement by transforming the melancholy of Donald Byrd’s “Distant Land” into a beautifully brooding piece of hip-hop fusion. “Mystic Bounce” receives a dash of world music influence, and cements Madlib’s more subdued approach with chameleon melodies hiding behind layers of rhythm and samples. 

Some tracks are an excuse for Madlib to work in new arrangements with other musicians (Morgan Adams Quartet Plus Two, Yesterdays New Quintet, etc.), such as “Stormy” and “Footprints” which are both highly transformative journeys into psych and jazz. Several interludes touch on the history of Blue Note and the relationship founders Alfred Lion and Max Margulis cultivated with their signees. Rapper “M.E.D.” flows over funky wah guitar, bass and reverberating marimba on “Please Set Me At Ease,” marking the most traditional hip-hop track so far. Shuffling drums fade in and out on “Funky Blue Note” where a flickering organ rules the mood, pushing back against the overtly modern production. While the sounds are not gripping in the traditional sense, the music is mixed in an elegant way so as to fit perfectly into the background. 

Daniel Dumile’s MF Doom makes a cameo during the intro of “Stepping Into Tomorrow,” which evolves into a spicy, seductive collage of dynamic rhythms and vocal falsettos, rising up to the emotional peak of the whole album. Jazz bass is an absolute delicacy, and Madlib shows his understanding of this by highlighting the complexity of the low-end frequently. As is noted by a shout out in one of the interludes, Madlib is tracing the earliest signs of hip-hop, boosting its faint pulse by focusing in on rhythm and percussion. “Montara” is one of the better uses of woodwind, mixing far-off jazz improv sounds with modern drum loops and spacy vocals. 

“Song For My Father” places a major emphasis on guitar soloing while remaining clean and somber. “Peace/Dolphin Dance” is the truest experiment, fitting nicely as the finale with juxtaposed vortexes of washy cymbals, wide, buzzy keys and sweet flute melodies - the whole arrangement phasing back and forth between the past and the present with masterful precision. 

Madlib’s reverence for the classics shines brightly here, even almost to a fault as the producer at times feels a bit hesitant to really chop into some of the standards at his disposal. Still, his goal with Shades Of Blue feels clear in its focus on subtlety and maturity, showing a firm understanding of the relationship between sound and silence. Shades Of Blue might not keep you laser-focused at all times, but it's charming disc-jockey personality and warm production make for a wonderfully relaxing night in.

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