Blue Note
Catalogue No: 5507723
With Madlib using around 12 Blue Note recordings to rework and cover, Shades of Blue is such an amazing listen from start to finish. The Oxnard producer shows a lot of care towards the original recordings, and also shows some great appreciation towards the label’s legacy. Along with his past Yesterday’s New Quintet releases, it’s one of many projects that shows off Madlib’s great talent and versatility so well as he turns some classic jazz tracks into much funkier hip-hop fused cuts, while also showcasing his fictional jazz universe of musicians. Although not necessarily intended to connect the old heads and young heads of jazz and hip-hop at once, it certainly does do a fantastic job with that. A great example of the wonderful relationship between jazz and hip-hop!
