Keziah Jones "Black Orpheus"

[godunique]

Hey Russ!

The above album was never released in the U.S., which is a shame because I think it's every bit an accomplishment as "Voodoo." (Which I adore, in the interest of disclosure.)

After listening for the first time I concluded that it was a sort of "sister" album to "Voodoo." Tight rhythm section, lyrics that at times are almost inaudible (for different reasons of course), Keziah's ever-present Nigerian influences to D's "Africa," etc. Most important--his funkiest album to date.

Would you care to share your experiences working on this album? Also, would it be fair to say he sought you out after digging the sonics of "Voodoo"?

Thanks!
Dom

[PinkHumpy]

Yes! I love Keziah Jones Black Orpheus. I picked it up on vacation in Paris. Please share the secrets!

I met Keziah in NYC a few years back when he did a show at Joe's Pub, with Meshell on bass. Super cool.

[Russell Elevado]

Originally Posted by godunique

Hey Russ!
The above album was never released in the U.S., which is a shame because I think it's every bit an accomplishment as "Voodoo." (Which I adore, in the interest of disclosure.)

After listening for the first time I concluded that it was a sort of "sister" album to "Voodoo." Tight rhythm section, lyrics that at times are almost inaudible (for different reasons of course), Keziah's ever-present Nigerian influences to D's "Africa," etc. Most important--his funkiest album to date.

Would you care to share your experiences working on this album? Also, would it be fair to say he sought you out after digging the sonics of "Voodoo"?
Thanks! Dom

hello tom,
yes, i too am a big fan of keziah's. he's a sick guitar player as well. it's interesting that you relate it to voodoo.
the producer for that album, Kevin Armstrong, is a fan of voodoo, and played it for keziah and that pretty much sold him on me. and i hadn't heard keziah's music either. but when they sent me the rough's and his previous albums, i thought, wow, what interesting music this is. so there was no hesitation for me to agree to mix his album. not to mention they wanted to do it in paris!

from the start kevin and keziah gave me full autonomy on the mixes. i definitely had a vision right away with the album. he can be really abstract at times and then very beautiful at other times. i knew a psychedelic and edgy approach would be just right for him. also, i heard frank zappa in his music as well as the obvious influences. so after i finished the 1st song (which i cant remember) they knew what i was capable of doing with his songs and just let me go for it. so i had a lot of fun working on that and the creativity was flowing like torrents....you know being in paris, working with amazing people, excellent vibes at the studio, the expresso, etc. all the right chemistry for making an incredible album. wait to you hear his next one...i'll be back with some more later.

ps: i know his albums are hard to come by in the US, but if you're interested in buying his albums, i'll see how it can be arranged...(hope this is okay jules. let me know if it's not proper)

http://keziahjones.com/

cheers

[PinkHumpy]

You can find Black Orpheus on amazon.com as an import, that's where a few of the friends I brought to see Keziah live got his album. (Once they saw him live they were sold!)
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Orpheus-...4940313&sr=8-2

I got a few of his older albums on amazon as well, and while they are cool they are very different ... and for me they didn't have the magic of Black Orpheus. (even more praise there for Russ!)

Brendan

[Russell Elevado]

Originally Posted by PinkHumpy

You can find Black Orpheus on amazon.com as an import, that's where a few of the friends I brought to see Keziah live got his album. (Once they saw him live they were sold!)
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Orpheus-...4940313&sr=8-2
I got a few of his older albums on amazon as well, and while they are cool they are very different ... and for me they didn't have the magic of Black Orpheus. (even more praise there for Russ!) Brendan

thanks brendan, you're too kind. and i should have thought of amazon

[over-man]

Russell,

My copy of Keziah Jones' Black Orpheus just came in today, and I was surprised to see a second bonus disc. Did you mix the second disc as well?

BTW, I think I'm becoming a little obsessed with your mixes, I hope you don't mind.

-Ryan Miller

(Stalker! watch out! Jules )

[Russell Elevado]

Originally Posted by over-man

Russell, My copy of Keziah Jones' Black Orpheus just came in today, and I was surprised to see a second bonus disc. Did you mix the second disc as well?
BTW, I think I'm becoming a little obsessed with your mixes, I hope you don't mind. -Ryan Miller (Stalker! watch out! Jules )

hello ryan,

thanks very much
yes i mixed the whole thing...

cheers

[Russell Elevado]

hello everyone,

i just wanted to talk about keziah jones' next album. we've taken a break from recording for a few months while keziah is writing more songs. he's been all over the globe these past few months getting inspirations and such in lagos, spain, london and paris. black orpheus was such a blast to mix, but this time around i'll be helping keziah with the production as well. we cut around 18 tracks so far. and we've got some amazing players on it. we've got roy hargrove doing the horn arrangements (genius). we have doug wimbush (bass) and will calhoun (drums) from "living color". also on drums we got Jason Thomas (JT) from Roy's RH factor band (who's really killin it on the polyrhythmic shit) and he is teamed up with Adam Blackstone who plays bass in Jil Scott's band. And James Poyser is helping with his keyboard talents. Amp Fiddler is playing keys as well.

all of it is being tracked to 2" running 15ips with Dolby SR. the songs are sounding amazing so far and we've only just begun. i think overall, this album will be more edgy and funky, sonically and musically. and he's doing quite a bit of experimenting with his voice. i've not heard him sing like this before. and the players have been just nailing the songs. it's been about 5 years since that album and we've both grown since then, so it should be very interesting... eeh. so keep your eye out for it on "Because Records" and there will be a release in the US this time...

Keziah Jones official site

all the best