This Is Not a Tango

Although we never heard of The Juju Orchestra until recently, randomly encountering the above song was an interesting experience. The immediately recognizable sample of the bassist in "Olé Coltrane" plus Astor Piazzolla somehow works in a song. The song's use of funk and irresistible polyrhythmic drumming also meshes very well with Piazzolla and Coltrane. Is that an afrobeat sample played by the guitar?

Dahomey Dance

Reminiscing over McCoy Tyner's passing has returned this gem to my thoughts. Featuring Eric Dolphy on alto sax, this bluesy nod to our Fon forebears is a blue stroll along the path of jazz's past and future. Dolphy cannot help but express himself in that irrepressible manner of his, moaning and wailing on his alto the path forward for jazz in the early 1960s. McCoy Tyner's solo is an assertion of his own utterly singular style, and a perfect example of the relevance of the blues to jazz. This is our music.