ANDREW MASON: BK BBQ

(Editor's Note: Andrew Mason, aka DJ Monk-One,is one of the hardest working DJs/journalists/label dudes you'll ever meet. I probably first got to know him through his extensive writing for Wax Poetics and it wasn't until later that I realize, "duh, he and Monk-One are the same guy," and his music-making as scarily prolific as his writing. He helps run NYC Trust which is home to, among other things, the excellent Greenwood Rhythm Coalition and Midnight Lab Band. (There's going to be a big NYC Trust Remixed album this Sep. so keep an eye out for that and meanwhile, make sure you peep E's E's "Scratch Skank single.) That, of course, is when he's not busy putting out his own compilations or hitting off the Underground Railroad with soul and funk mixes. For his summer songs post, Andrew takes us to Brooklyn for some plush, funky BBQ tunes. If these whet your appetite, you can get another heaping helping this Friday at the Lincoln Center. --O.W.)

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If one activity sums up summer, it’s a barbecue. In Brooklyn, that means a secret passage from baking streets to the humble jungle confined in the corridor unseen between blocks. Step from the sidewalk through a cramped apartment out into a matchbook backyard where your host has wiggled a grill into the corner and bottles jostle in a cooler. Speakers are wedged in windows and neighbors peer from third-floor perches.

Since appropriate musical accompaniment is essential for a summer soiree, here’s a few tested suggestions.

Pieces Of A Dream: Warm Weather
From S/T (Elektra, 1981)

Waking up on the day of your backyard fiesta, you’ll need something to set the mood. This superb cut from the Philly-based Grover Washington, Jr. protégés is laid back and lyrically uplifting. As vocalist Barbara Walker notes, “I like the warm weather, it’s like a natural high.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKuH7gQ8840

Jessica Cleaves: I Really Envy The Sunshine
From Plush Funk (P-Vine, 1992)

Any discussion of Summer Songs has to include a “sunshine” selection, and though I enthusiastically recommend Nancy Wilson’s song of that name, mine comes courtesy of Jessica Cleaves. One quarter of the vocal group Friends of Distinction, Cleaves also sang on two of the early Earth Wind & Fire LPs before teaming up with the Parliament Funkadelic crew in the mid-‘70s. This track comes from a 1980 session that didn’t see daylight until it appeared on a 1993 P-Funk rarities comp. The languid bump would perfectly accompany a chilled beverage and the readying of a grill. Do you have one of those chimney charcoal starters?

Choc Quib Town: Somos Pacificos
From Somos Pacificos (Rue Bleue, 2007)

Now that the marinated morsels are sizzling and guests are easing in, this cut from Choc Quib Town goes down lovely. One part laid back marimba riff and one part popping drums, add Gloria “Goyo” Perea’s Lauryn-esque rap and you’ve got an irresistible concoction. CQT represents Colombia’s Pacific coast culture hard—like the man says, “Colombia es más que coca, marijuana y café.”

De La Soul: Thru Ya City
From Art Official Intelligence (Tommy Boy, 2000)

The chorus is a lift from the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer In The City,” but what puts this firmly in the warm weather category is Jay Dee’s amicable beat, all chubby synth bass and fizzy keys, elements I suspect would come off cornball in the hands of 98% of the other chefs out there. Probably cooked up around the same time as Common’s Water For Chocolate, the drums sound ?uestlove-ish and are loose in the unquantized style Dilla perfected. Without giving away the exact ingredients, I’ll add that the sample source for this is an electro-tropical dream that could’ve made the menu just as easily.

Tabu Ley: Maze
From Rochereau Vol. 6 (Star Musique, 1982). Also on This is Africa Vol. 2 Part 2

Something about the twining chimes of soukous guitar calls out “summer.” Maybe it’s the resemblance to the Dominican Bachata omnipresent in the Brooklyn bodegas where I grab dewy Presidentes, maybe it’s an exoticized image of steamy Zaire, but regardless, there is something that makes the sweet sound perfectly apt. Tabu Ley was already a superstar when he had a big hit with this track (pronounced “mah-zay”) in 1980, and has since achieved status nothing short of legendary. This easy swinger just bubbles along, getting funky right around the 3-minute mark when band switches up the groove. When “Rochereau” (Ley’s nickname) breaks out the winning English-language chorus “I love you, baby touch me” a few minutes later it’s pure perfection, no translation required.

Willie Colon: Ah-Ah/O-No
From El Juicio (Fania, 1971)

Not far musically from Willie Colon’s earlier, more blatantly African “Ghana’e” (a neglected back-in-the-day Bambaataa banger, BTW), this lead-off cut from the magnificent El Jucio album is a simple boy-tries-to-get-girl tale that vocalist Hector Lavoe elevates to art with his cool, clear delivery and clever come-ons. The last minute or so is given up to an irresistible itinerary of all the locales he’ll take his gal: “we’ll dance Cumbia in Colombia,” and so on.

P-Funk All-Stars: Hydraulic Pump Pt. III
From 12" (Virgin, 1983)

If I ever had doubts about this one as a bonafide summer slammer (as the cover of PE’s “Brothers Gonna Work It Out” single proclaimed itself back in June of ‘89), they were obliterated one sultry afternoon a few years ago at a barbecue in Los Angeles. You might say the essence of DJing is matching songs to scenarios, and when the puzzle pieces fit perfectly it’s a truly transcendent experience for listener and selector alike. When I recall the reaction as I ran this track, there’s no doubt this was one of those times. “Jump up in the air and stay there,” the chorus commands, advice the backyard bunch in LA did their best to follow. The version that got ‘em levitating was part three on the 12-inch, a segment that sagely strips the track to the octave-leaping bass line that gave the song its name and a sassy brass riff from the Horny Horns.

Wendy Rene: Bar-B-Q
From 7" (Stax, 1964). Also on Smokin' Soul Picnic.

Now that things are well underway, let me introduce Wendy Rene who’s going to break it down for you. Hang on, first let’s get Booker T & the MG’s to lay down a snapping groove. Alright, how about some handclaps… OK Wendy, tell ‘em: “I smell something in the air/You know it smells like a barbecue/If I had some I wouldn’t care, because I like a barbecue/You like a barbecue/We like a barbecue.” Who could argue with that?

Derrick Harriott: All Day Music
From Reggae Disco Rockers (Wildflower, 1975)

Around here the backyards are right up against each other, and if you’re getting too loud, too late, your neighbors will have a few choice words for you. So in the interest of stress free living it’s best to bring things back down a little as we move into evening. War’s “All Day Music” is already a self-evident summer anthem, and taking it for a spin on the Jamaican music machine that was Derrick Harriott’s musical chariot only intensifies that vibe.

Bill Withers: Can We Pretend?
From +'Justments (Sussex 1974)

When the sun has set and the embers are glowing in the grill, it’s time to kick back with the closest of friends. “Can We Pretend,” found on Bill Withers’ oft-overlooked +Justments album, is a premier league Quiet Storm classic. It was also the final song when the Greenhouse, my nine-year old Brooklyn weekly, concluded earlier this summer: a hopeful goodnight and a promise to do it all again soon.

SASHA FRERE-JONES ON SUMMER SONGS

A podcast with Sasha Frere-Jones: Online Only: The New Yorker

GAYE THERESA JOHNSON: SUNRISE TO SUNSET

(Editor's Note: I met Gaye through the Experience Music Project; her and Jeff Chang were giving a phenomenal talk about music in New Orleans, post-Katrina, and I discovered that her work closely aligned with many of my own interests, namely looking at cross-ethnic relations through musical activity. She has a forthcoming book called, The Future Has a Past: Politics, Music and Memory in Afro-Chicano Los Angeles which I'm eagerly awaiting. For her post, Gaye flips through six songs that capture a variety of summer rhythms from East Harlem to Southwest Louisiana with stops between at Monterey, Strong Island and more. --O.W.)

Ray Barretto: El Hijo de Obatala
From Indestructible (Fania, 1976)

The best part of this song comes after the band announces, "Damas y caballeros, ahora con ustedes, las manos duros de Ray Barretto. Y como TOCA!" The ensuing dialogue between the Edy Martinez on piano and Barretto on congas is one of the most beautiful conversations I've ever heard.

The Jacksons: Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)
From The Jacksons Live (Sony 1981)

This song makes my husband Chuck want to rollerskate, and jump up in the air when the Jacksons sing, "Let's dance, let's shout (SHOUT!)" What always strikes me about this song is the intensity of energy next to the effortlessness of MJ's vocals. The tempo on the live recording is faster than the studio version; it makes you wish you were listening live and dancing with strangers on a hot summer night. Beautiful.

Charles Lloyd: Forest Flower (Sunrise and Sunset)
From Forest Flower (Atlantic, 1966)

This is a most powerful combination of the talents of Keith Jarrett (piano), Jack DeJohnette (drums), and Charles Lloyd. The high notes on the piano at the end are almost too much to take. Hard to get better than this on a summer evening.

Public Enemy: By The Time I Get to Arizona
From Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black (Def Jam, 1991)

The temperature of "Two Sisters of Mystery" sample (Mandrill) changes in this context to an intimate, steely heat. Every time I hear Chuck D say "AriZONA" I see him throw a punch in my mind's eye, and hear the lyrical punch in my ears. Reminds you to get your summer protest on. "Go Go Go Go Go..." Evan Mecham must have heard this deliberate, inevitable fury and updated his NRA membership.

Brand Nubian: Wake Up (Reprise in the Sunshine)
From One for All (Elektra, 1990)

This song is a two-fer, because you really can't get through a summer without listening to Roy Ayers. This is a "word of wisdom to the groove from the wise" whose lyrical ease makes you want to sit back and enjoy the heat. Everybody loves the sunshine.

Keith Frank: What's His Name
From What's His Name (Maison De Soul, 1994)

There are few songs that make me want to two-step, waltz, or jig. But everything Keith Frank does in this song makes me want to break with my vegetarian, one-step sensibilities; eat gumbo, and take on the Louisiana heat for a live performance. There are no tricks in this song, just an easy, fun song that inspires love for what Zydeco is for the human spirit.

ERIC LUECKING: SOUNDS IN THE SUN

(Editor's note: For the last year or so, Eric Luecking has become Soul Sides' most prolific contributor. It was only right that he get to drop some thoughts on the summer season. --O.W.)

What defines a summer song? Is it a regal horn arrangement? Is it a love song? Is it an ode to life? In short, it can be all these things. In the Midwest, we love barbecues, pool parties, cruising the strip, hooking up, and house parties just as much as anyone. While many of my choices are more recent selections, they fit the recipe perfectly for what makes a great summer music soundtrack.

Chicago: Street Player
From Chicago 13 (Chicago, 1979)

One of the premiere '70s bands (who also extended their run into '80s radio mainstays as well), they explored multiple sounds and textures. On “Street Player,” panned by some critics as having too much disco influence, the horns are ablaze. While it has a disco bass riff, it also has an incredible latin drum breakdown before going into a guitar solo. Personally I love the track as it makes me want to conga through downtown or ride on a parade float with a brass band marching behind with confetti shooting into the air.

People Under The Stairs: Blowin Wax
From Question In The Form Of An Answers (Om, 2000)

Few groups ooze a summer sound like the west coast's People Under The Stairs. Every album you know you're going to get a soundtrack to your barbecue. “Blowin Wax” has a Pete Rock feel to it with its snappy drums and funky sax on the chorus. All you need to do is stop by your local butcher's to pick up the ribs, and PUTS will take care of the rest. Don't have guests to your barbecue? That's okay, just blast this song on high and the neighbors will show up. Getting your annoying and so-tanned-her-skin-looks-like-leather septagenarian gossip queen to leave the barbecue once you got the party poppin' will take something more than what this post can encompass. Sorry. (Maybe you can tell her the neighbors next door are playing bingo.)

Naughty By Nature: Clap Yo Hands
From Poverty's Paradise (Tommy Boy, 1995)

The true summer hip hop kings, however, are NBN. In the '90s and early '00s, they came up with the anthems that defined your summer “Clap Yo Hands” was overshadowed by its other album counterparts in “Craziest” and “Feel Me Flow,” but easily holds its own. (Note: The b-side “Hang Out & Hustle is really nice, too.) Kay Gee laced a nice beat underneath (that bass can snap your neck) the seriously underrated Treach and Vinnie who both spit with serious flow. A Rakim sample in the hook never hurts either. The main thing that really propelled their summer anthem success was simple, but catchy hooks, something 50 Cent took note of a nearly a decade later. It also didn't hurt that Treach's cadence was/is unfucwitable. During the couple of summers where NBN didn't have a single out, in the '90s spring just went straight into fall. Mother Nature thought, “What's the use?”

Koop: Summer Sun
From Waltz For Koop (Jazzanova/Compost, 2002)

Swedish jazz never sounded so nice. Poppy enough to sound like it could be the backdrop for an Old Navy commercial but with enough chops not to sound cheesy, this song is to lay back in the hammock on a sunny day and watch the clouds by overhead while listening to the birds chirp. Yukimi Nagano's vocals have a dreamy and optimistic tone to them that marry perfectly with the arrangement. It's impossible to not be overcome with happiness while listening to this song. Go ahead and try; I dare you.

Donald Byrd: Think Twice
From Stepping Into Tomorrow (Blue Note, 1974)

I'm not going to front – I didn't pick up this album until after I heard Dilla's BBE Beat Generation CD in 2001, but it instantly became one of my favorite jazz albums. I remember reading that Dilla had hoped to remake this entire album but settled for just updating “Think Twice.” Part jazz, part funk, and even part disco, the Mizell brothers played on and produced this fine musical specimen of cross-pollinated bliss.