FEBRUARY: A Rest In Beats Tribute to the Sounds of Nujabes (bandcamp)

The legend of the Japanese producer Nujabes begun in the late 1990's when Nujabes started recording with some of the finest underground hip-hop MC's from around the world. From Substantial to Apani B, to Funky DL, Nujabes had an effortless command over music production and an intrigue of jazz, which led Nujabes to reach out to Funky DL.

The two cemented a firm friendship and set about recording songs which are now considered revered classics among the hip-hop world. DL has had a soft spot for Nujabes' music for years and has always been impressed by the 'feeling' it births from listening to it; so Funky DL pays tribute to the legendary hip-hop sounds of Nujabes by recreating some of his famous productions on this fantastic album entitled... "February: A Rest In Beats Tribute To The Sounds of Nujabes".

Working tiresomely in the studio, DL with assistance from some of his musical pals crafted a full studio album paying homage to and celebrating the creative ideas originally brought to hip-hop by the late Sebajun 'Nujabes' Yamada.

However, DL veers away from intense sampling, avoiding the same breaks as used by Nujabes - to bring this fabulously musical, creative and jazzy tribute album.

DL felt it fitting for the album to be named February, being that Nujabes' life begun on February 7th 1974, and sadly ended on February 26th 2010.

As Funky DL's intention was to capture the essence and melancholy musical connection of what Nujabes brought to music lovers around the world, DL carefully hand- selected each track from the catalogues of of his works and crafted as elegant of a representation as he could to showcase a further progression into the wealth of ideas from Nujabes; but taking them that one step further and going beyond the usual restrictions of using only the contents of original samples.

This album is certain to bring back the nostalgia of the classics that each track was born from, as well as offering an entirely new audio perspective. Fans of Nujabes will not be disappointed.
credits
released November 9, 2014

Produced, arranged and mixed by Funky DL for Washington Classics 2014.
Keyboards and additional programming by Chris Wilson.
Additional keyboards by Tahleem Hollis, Val Kamser and Funky DL.
Vocal accompaniment, vocal arrangement and production consultancy by Dukus Alemay.
Additional vocal accompaniment by Lei-an and Funky DL.
Art, design and layout by WashArt.
Typography by Sajinee Padhiar.
UK consultancy by Bob42jh and Jean Marc Ogou aka 004.
USA consultancy by Parris.
Japan Consultancy by Satoshi Tsukamoto.
Germany Consultancy by Ma. Quality.
Executive producer: N. Newman for Washington Classics.
license
all rights reserved
tags
Tags
funky dl, hip hop, hip-hop, hip-hop/rap, jazz, nujabes, rap, instrumental, japanese, jazz, jazz-hop, mellow, London