Lenny White – Sweet Dreamer
Lenny White – Enchanted Pool (Excerpt)
Lenny White – Big City
There are many things that I appreciate about being a child of the 1970s, coming of age during the Golden Era of Hip-Hop. It’s given me a perspective on life, music and politics that I appreciate more and more. But, I have to admit, one of the things that is nice about this digital age is that when you obsess about a certain sample, nine times out of ten, you can figure it out in seconds just by doing a search on the internets. Yes, for someone who became a DJ and a collector prior to the internet even publicly existing, there is a part of me that feels a little “lazy” doing this. In the past, this kind of cultural capital was something you discovered through your talents as a collector, or learned by virtue of your connections to other DJs who had that knowledge.
But when I hear a track like Madlib & Freddie Gibbs’ “Robes,” that just completely bowls me over with it’s stunning beauty, I don’t much care about principles, I just need to find out what that sample is so that I can sleep at night. Marveling at the instrumental version of “Robes” last week on my show, led to one of those searches and fairly quickly to this album from Lenny White featuring the song “Sweer Dreamer.” A short trip to Amoeba and just like that, the album was mine.
Virtually the entirety of “Robes” is built off of “Dremaer,” but it’s a fascinating display of what makes Madlib one of the most talented and idiosyncratic producers of all-time. Instead of a simple, conventional loop, which surely would have been nice enough, Madlib reimagines the song, cuts pieces from a variety of places moves things up, moves things back, allows some parts to play longer, and the use of the vocal samples retains some of the original’s feeling, while altering it enough to give the song a different emphasis.
Because of my own prejudices around music produced after 1975, I likely never would have picked this one up. There’s just so little “fusion” music that I find interesting or even listenable. This entire album isn’t necessarily an exception, but the strong moments here are REALLY strong moments. A look at the notes on the back makes clear why, because the players on this record are outrageous. “Sweet Dreamer” features lyrics by Weldon Irvine (Linda Tillery provides the silky smooth vocals of Irvine’s lyrics), piano from Herbie Hancock, Paul Jackson from the Headhunters on bass. “Big City” features the Tower Of Power horn section AND Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express. Elsewhere Neal Schon of Santana, Jan Hammer, Miroslave Vitous, Bennie Maupin, and Verdine White of Earth Wind and Fire (playing was is credited as “Very funky bass”) also make appearances.
“Sweet Dreamer” has been part of a running theme in changes to how I listen to and evaluate music. Without Madlib sampling this would have never been on my radar. You’d think at this age and with all the genres I listen to I wouldn’t still be so stubborn with some of my tastes. But as I’ve been told a fair amount, I am a very stubborn man. I doubt that’s really ever going to change, but “Sweet Dreamer” gives me a great reason to take even more chances than I generally do with sounds I don’t generally mess around with.
Cheers,
Michael
