Sunday, June 26, 2005

Jazz Influenced Electronic Music



Kevin Yost- Future Flashback CD

"truth be told" MP3

I just got the new Kevin Yost cd in the mail and it is REALLY good. If you don't know who Yost is, check him out. He is one of my favorite house producers with an extensive jazz background which shines through on his records. He also is an amazing DJ and has been dj'ing since he was like 11 or 12 years old. Some of his tracks have a jazzy sound packed with live instrumentation, others are dark and techy dancefloor burners impeccably produced. He also just finished a tour with a live band where they played live jazz and house.

his new artist album is labeled as "Jazz Influenced Electronic Music" which instantly made me want to buy it. What surprised me, in a good way, is that it is not just "jazzy house" like so much of the jazz influenced stuff out there. This is REAL jazz with great solos and a lot of improvisation. Some parts have a Miles Davis-esque solo, other parts Chick Corea style riffs, all of which played by Yost. Many tracks have a clasic, straight ahead jazz sound which you don't hear quite as much in electronic music. The result is classic jazz instrumentation and arrangements combined with modern production techniques. He says in the liner notes that he wanted to evolve as a musician and producing a jazz album as a one-man band is the proof.

Kevinyost.com says:
"Kevin Yost spent the past year in intense musical reflection, juxtaposing the modern sounds of electronica with classic jazz (his original passion). "Future Flashback" is the next level of this brilliant fusion created by Kevin. His first full length album since the 2000 release of "Road Less Traveled" this 14 track album will feature live orchestration as well as a wide variety of studio collaborations. Kevin has promised to make this his best yet and it is expected to be an undoubted masterpiece. Sax & Flute - Howard Burns Vocals - Kristen Mountz"

Buy this album direct from kevinyost.com (and pick up some other stuff too!)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a nice track, very smooth and tight. I like and will have to check out more of the CD.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

The ananymous comment below was mine, but after more listening to this track, and loving it more and more. I felt compelled to sign in and give you proper thanks for the good stuff I've been getting here for the past few months. Keep it coming.

Jonah Dempcy said...

Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't heard of Kevin Yost before. From the audio sample you posted, it sounds great! Atmospheric, moody, nice textures, funky .. my kinda music! :)

I found this site searching for electronic jazz .. I actually also make similar kinda stuff. I make music I term "breakbeat jazz" -- funky breaks with jazz solos, kinda along the lines of Medeski Martin & Wood (but with a more electronic breakbeat sound).

I just released an album on the web. You can check it out here:

Revolution Void - Increase the Dosage

It's a mix of mid- to downtempo breaks with live improvisation, featuring solos by Seamus Blake and Matthew Garrison, among others.

So, some of you out there might be into that ... the CD is available in its entirety as MP3, .Ogg or .FLAC (licensed through Creative Commons).

Thanks again for the Kevin Yost recommendation, I'll definitely be checking out more of his work!