ETHOS

 By Paul Pennington

Orginally I had this amazing idea to post my favorite albums of 2008. When I started, I began to reminisce over this year and all of its musical disappointments and mediocrity (Common, T.I., John Legend, Robin Thicke,  Gym Class Heroes, Common, Common…Common). However, after a closer examination, I realized that there was a truly solid collection of great music that came out. Looking at incredible releases from Erykah Badu, Lil’ Wayne, Dwele, Nas, N.E.R.D., The Roots (as always), Q-Tip, and Al “Don’t Call It A Comeback” Green, 2008 was a solid year. But, generally speaking, these are names and releases that most people are aware of. So as this post was literally written and awaiting publication, I began to look at other “Best of 2008” lists and realized that every list was basically the same. I’m sorry but I just don’t get down like that. Deciding to not play in the mainstream, I figured I would rewrite the post and drop the “other” best of 2008. So I went back and looked at the musical masterpieces that flew under the radar of 2008. This is for the artists that said “motherf*** the wagon come join the band…” Download/Buy/Listen/Enjoy.

-Kay/Nicolay/Zo!/Phonte-Time:Line, Zo! and Tigallo Love The 80’s, Leave It All Behind

Apparently collabos were hot in the Justus League this year and we should all be thankful. The connection of Dutch producer Nicolay and rapper Kay dropped first with Time:Line in February, which was a great beginning to the collective of albums. It is my belief that Nicolay solely makes beats that transcend genres and just scream “NOT HIP-HOP!” and that’s why they are so powerful. On the other end Houston-rapper Kay brings a very solid flow to the tandem. The album is particularly feature heavy, which usually is not a good look. However, the album showcases many “underground” artists that deserve serious shine. Of particular interest is S1 of The Strange Fruit Project, an amazingly dope hip-hop act out of Houston.

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From the entire Ethos staff, we would like to wish everyone a happy holidays. Sit back, relax, eat good food, enjoy family and friends and watch 24 straight hours of “A Christmas Story” Expect more from us in the new year (maybe…). In the mean time, enjoy the rich sounds of the holiday season:

Trey Songz and Flo Rida go extra hard on this one…(pause)

wait….

wait…

wait for it…

and…

Just kidding…We would never let you “dash through the snow with Flo Rida and Trey, whip on 24’s…” Enjoy:

Quite possibly the greatest Christmas song ever…Donny (30th Anniversary of his death…Jan. 13th)

By Paul Pennington

This thing that we have come to understand as jazz has encompassed a variety of subgenres that have surfaced throughout musical history. Many of these outgrowths were important to the sustainment of one of America’s earliest forms of music. We can take a particular look at the musical path of the original jazz pioneers to understand the evolution of the art form. Adapting and fusing funk, jazz, electric, and rock sounds allowed for Miles Davis’ original love to sustain popularity over the fast-paced cultural explosion and expansion that is American history.

Because of this we gained the smooth jazz styling of George Benson, the funk-fueled sounds of Donald Byrd, and the jazz-inspired hip-hop skills of Digable Planets. What has been relatively absent in the present, particularly in the pop arena, are the older sounds of Hard Bop, Swing and Modal jazz. These sounds made famous by musical geniuses such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane have, in many ways, been removed from a younger audience. What can be seen and heard, however, is the emergence of a new crop of young artists that I believe will fuse the sounds of today to resurrect the sounds of old, whilst maintaining their stylistic roots. (Sidenote: Sooooo yeah…all the artists are defintely not black…but I just really love that song…and I’m black so I can do whatever I want…)

—ROBERT GLASPER—

I’ve done a good bit of gushing about the 27-year old pianist already on the blog and don’t expect me to stop anytime soon. From jazz classics (Blue Skies/Irving Berlin) to hip-hop classics (Stakes Is High/De La Soul) Glasper does it all. What is so impressive about his style is that it never strays from the cool jazz styling, a sound made popular by artists such as Bill Evans and Vince Guaraldi. Despite the onslaught of “smooth jazz” fusions, ranging from “A Smooth Sax Tribute to Marvin Gaye” to “A Smooth Jazz Tribute to Amy Winehouse” (seriously what idiot is financing these absurd projects…stop it.), Glasper keeps the music sophisticated and yet relevant. For many jazz fans his sound is akin to the percussive and simplistic playing style of jazz pianist and Pittsburgh-native (Shout Outs to the 412/724!!!!) Ahmad Jamal.

If I could have one thing in the entire world it would be a Robert Glasper J Dilla Tribute…seriously I would never listen to a single record again if that ish came out…

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By Paul Pennington

So….because we here at Ethos are a phenomenally lazy group (or just prefer to enjoy our summers) we have been dropping the ball. We probably won’t step our collective post games up until the fall (although I have a few posts collecting dust). While this makes no sense considering we will be overloaded with work in our junior years, we just like dope distractions like writing for Ethos…or Facebooking. To break the monotony of the Ethos silence I figured I would post this video of the Robert Glasper Experiment. First off Robert Glasper is probably my favorite modern jazz artist. Along with characters like Esperanza Spalding (opened for The Roots), Pimp & “Soil” Sessions (they’re from Japan-a place that still loves and respects jazz and hip-hop), and many other younger jazz artists, he is really bringing back a great musical genre. I recently bought one of his albums (if you know me you understand how extraordinary that truly is…)

For those that were there with me or happened to catch the concert at another venue, Glasper recently toured with Common and Q-Tip. He was the guy on the keys playing jazz guitarist Joe Pass’ cover of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”…which in turn was sampled by J Dilla for Q-Tip’s “Let’s Ride” (most people at the concert were confused as to what he was doing…but as a musical nerd and a huge fan of all three songs, I went through what some like to call multiple eargasms). With Glasper added to my list of musical mancrushes that I have gushed over, I’ll move on to the Robert Glasper Experiment. This musical mind trust consists of jazz artists Derrick Hodge, Chris Dave, and Casey Benjamin, and implores the talents of artists such as Mos Def, Bilal and Q-Tip. The group fuses hip-hop with jazz stylings, reminiscent of Illadelph Halflife. They do random shows all the time and if there is a god I will catch one.

This particular video is one of my all-time favorites…I almost broke down completely after hearing this live instrumental of Black Star’s “Thieves in the Night” (understanding this song is like understanding a part of me…) with the Mos Def ad libs. This is music folks…pay attention.

p.s. expect a post soon about those newer jazz artists I mentioned earlier…in the mean time google/imeem/myspace…or buy those names immediately.

p.s.s. To understand my love of Robert Glasper check out this cut of off his 2007 album In My Element…entitled “J Dillalude”…wooooooow.

By Paul Pennington

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If you start to break it then people aren’t going to go. I’m sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music…I don’t know about it. But I’m not having Hip-Hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong.” ~Noel Gallagher of Oasis

Looks like Jay has been taking classes with Wayne at the Guitar Hero School for Rock&Roll

This weekend Jay-Z headlined the legendary Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, much to the dismay of many diehard fans of the event. One of these haters came in the form of Oasis band member/clown Noel Gallagher. While Gallagher’s distaste with Jay-Z’s top billing is understood, it shows that he does not actually know the history of his beloved event and that he is a world-class douche.

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I’m posting this because:

1. Paul’s haterific post has been at the top of this page for too long. (Much love, Paul….lol)

2. This is one of my favorite live videos of the High Priestess of Flyness…and I’m currently reading her autobiography.

3. It’s my birthweek, and I can do whatever I want.

Nina Simone — Four Women

By Paul Pennington

“I’m in your girl with her heels in the air n****”
~”Conscious” brotha from the Legendary Foundation

Now personally, I am not a huge fan of labels—in relationships, art and anything else people love to smack a label on. In hip hop music we can see labeling of “conscious” or “underground” emcees as a by-product of the commercialization of the genre. The irony in this assessment of rappers such as Common, Talib Kweli and Mos Def, is the seemingly commodified and packaged identity that these characters are given. I say this in the sense that while these particular artists do not box themselves into the packaged product akin to the “commercial” artist, the backpacking fans manage to pigeonhole their heroes into altruistic lights of positivity and revolutionary thought.

Let’s Get Free…How?….Well, um let’s um burn flags, um eating our vegetables like mommy said…that should work…yea and let’s disregard capitalization…just so the white man knows we don’t play his silly games.

I have major contentions with these notions for several reasons. The first comes in definition. Who was the linguistically-challenged (read: idiot) individual who decided that “conscious” was the proper adjective to describe this particular sect of artists. Most sources define “conscious” as being self-aware or general cognition…wtf?!?!?!?…Are we seriously going to put some people on a pedestal because they ostensibly maintain a level above a vegetative state? Well, in that case every rapper in the game, is conscious unless there is an unknown artist named LIFsupport, with the tentatively-titled Pull The Plug EP, coming this summer (don’t be the idiot who actually googles that ish…please) (more…)

By Paul Pennington

As I have told many, my mother has been the greatest musical influence in my life. When people notice my 27,000+ (I am shameless) song iTunes Library, I consider it a reflection of the wealth of knowledge that my mother gave me at a young age. What must be understood about my life is the fact that as a child we did not listen to the radio. Instead our car was inundated with the sounds of Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Roy Ayers, and Donald Byrd. Even as I grew older my mother introduced me to Lauryn Hill (Miseducation Tour with my mom was my first concert ever…), Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige. Being a musician herself, my mother understood sounds and harmonies on a level unbeknownst to the average listener. This translated into the musical selection that she passed on to me.

Because of this, I first heard that familiar piano cadence without an accompanying drum loop. When I first heard those notes, smooth yet aggressively stroked piano notes, they were then Ahmad Jamal’s “I Love You” from his 1970 classic The Awakening. However, many of my contemporaries would understand the piece in question as Nas’ “The World Is Yours” produced by legendary producer Pete Rock. It’s moments like these that I cherish in life—I listen to a hip-hop record to find a song from my past; from music’s elongated history

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