Download | Duration: 01:21:38

I think i have to preface this podcast by saying that before I had discovered the more east coast side of hip hop and the sounds of Primier and Pete Rock and Jeru and on and on and on... I stumbled onto the Jazzmatazz album and this discovery definitely was a pivotal point in my becoming more fully versed in hip hop and the culture behind it.  Hearing the full cross section of ideas, voices, cultures and musical styles in this album was one of the many convincing aspects of the intellectual strength and importance of hip hop as vehicle of cultural communication and and social change.  So... needless to say... getting the chance to record a live Jazzmatazz session complete with full band, Guru and his new production partner Solar  (not to be confused with emcee francaise MC Solar) and then sit down with the two hip hop juggernauts for an hour after the show was an amazing experience.  Please go see them live whenever you get the chance because the musicians backing these two emcees are well worth seeing and for me this is definitely one version of hip hop as it should be... versatile and spontaneous and communicative of intricate ideologies.
They get props from right here...

The recording is explicit and not the version aired. I kept a raw cut so you could get the full effect.  This segment is the interview interlaced with segments of the live performance of Guru and Solar and the 7 Grand Band live at the Mezzanine in San Francisco on July 28th, 2007.






Guru on Myspace

Solar on Myspace

Guru's Jazzmatazz on Myspace

This is the link to the e-card with samples from the new CD as well as pics and the video for the single "State of Clarity" feat. Common and Bob James directed by Solar