Jeremy Steig – Howlin’ For Judy
Jeremy Steig – Rational Nonsense
Jeremy Steig – Waves
Wanted to make sure to give proper respect to Adam Yauch aka MCA this past week, leaving his tribute post as the top post. One of the other best ways I felt to pay tribute to his legacy and the legacy of the Beastie Boys was to highlight music that I never would have discovered without their help. With so many fantastic samples over the years, which shaped my musical sensibilities from searching and tracking down so many of them, it’s hard to choose a particular breakbeat used by the Beastie Boys to highlight. Personal favorites have always been the massive drums that serve as the beat for “Lookin’ Down The Barrel of A Gun,” from the Incredible Bongo Band’s “Last Bongo In Belgium” and the multiple ways the band used Jimmy Smith’s “Root Down” on a their own track of the same name. I don’t own those records anymore, but I was lucky enough to run into this collection of flautist Jeremy Steig which includes the immediately recognizable “Howlin’ For Judy,” later sampled by the Beastie Boys in “Sure Shot.”
Even since this was sampled, Steig remains somewhat underrated. Most diggers I don’t think realize that he recorded a lot of material in the late 60s and early 70s that was just as funky if not more so. This collection compiles some of the best tracks from three records, This Is Jeremy Steig, Legwork (both released originally on Solid State) and Wayfaring Stranger (originally released on Blue Note). Most of the tracks feature his usual rhythm section, Eddie Gomez on bass and Don Alias on drums, and the band really knows how to lay down some slinky funky, as they do on “Waves,” but as is the case with most of Steig’s music, things rarely just stay in the pocket for long. Steig and his players are constantly playing around with sounds, quite a lot of “Rational Nonsense,” moving in a variety of unexpected places and spaces, just like MCA and the Beastie Boys did musically. For this, and all the rest of the music I never would have heard without them, I have the Beastie Boys to thank, Adam Yauch especially…may you rest in peace.
Cheers,
Michael