Search - David Axelrod :: David Axelrod

David Axelrod & Mo' Wax Come Full Circle.

David S. Minjares | Montebello, CA. USA | 12/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"(This is Part Two of a Two-Part Review.)Thank God for James Lavelle at Mo' Wax and DJ Shadow. And all of the MC's, DJ's, ambient artists and samplers who have used David Axelrod records in one form or another. Who knew that this remarkable arranger/composer who once did records for the Electric Prunes, Cannonball Adderley, Lou Rawls and his own works would have such an impact on the past five years?"David Axelrod" is almost an accidental gift to those who have raised his notriety from just a musical footnote. What began as a rediscovery of an acetate from a long-abandoned session has turned into a cross-culturing event. This IS the true stuff from the man who skillfully blended jazz, classical, funk, psychedelia, gospel and LA studio savvy into an art form that should be heralded more because of the man's innovation of making opposites meet.It's not a perfect product on the surface. Under forty minutes long, transferred from the mono acetate (yeah, you hear the surface age) with overdubbed stereo strings. It could have been a total disaster, sure, but the last five years of innovations in trip/hip-hop, ambient/soundscape forms and rediscoveries of fusion and LA soul-lounge pop say otherwise.If anything, this album is more relevant and timely. The 7 songs (from the acetate) sound like they could have been done yesterday and not 30 years ago. Not only do the string arrangements and excellent updated solos compliment these pieces, but also show the mastery of how good (and essential) these session players were in making Axelrod's sound & vision take off. (And were talking people like guitarist Howard Roberts, drummer Earl Palmer, bassist Carol Kaye, keyboardists Don Randi & Joe Sample...to name a few.)But it's the two newer pieces that make this a very emotional experience. "The Little Children", with a harrowing and haunting rap/monologue by rapper Ras Kass, can only give a slight hint of the pain that Axelrod has been through during these last three decades. It's a very original mixing of symphonic classical elements, with hip-hop/urban truth, choral colorings and a terrific alto solo from Lanny Morgan. Terrific.But when it ends on the second new piece, "Loved Boy", Axelrod's pain is made very explicit. With a sad trumpet intro (by Oscar Brashear) and a beautiful (and almost operatic) vocal by Lou Rawls, this complex symphonic piece is a grabber. Written for his son (who passed away years ago), the simple and emotional lyric is a beautiful epitaph that is a universal message of familial loss. Try NOT to shed tears during these three minutes and you WILL fail miserably. It's a damn powerful piece.With this effort, both David Axelrod & the Mo' Wax label have come full circle. Like DJ Sahdow's "Endtroducing", this album knows how to communicate musically with the listener and gives you an unexpected & lasting emotional connection. If there were more albums similar to the above genres and geniuses, this would be happier place. Sadly, that's not the case. That's where the heart comes in. Let's see more..."

Points Across Time

tristanfrank | iowa city, iowa USA | 11/07/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Axelrod enjoyed a long stint as the resident soul music producer at Capitol records in the late sixties. This is his first work in nearly a decade to recive distribution. Some of his albums were big hits, while others were not promoted and have become rare. Beat-digging hip-hop producers have long shelled out larges sums for original issues of his hard to find works. He has been sampled by contemporary artists such as the Beatnuts, and Dr Dre. This album connects his classic sound to its modern influence. Dj Shadow, writing the liner notes, details what went into the creation of this album. This album aims for a classic timbre. David Axelrod brought his classic session players to Capitol Records Studio B, where he recorded decades earlier. At parts the intruments as so dissonant as to nearly sound off-key. This album avoids earlier Axelrod follies, it avoids pretentious god speak and cheesy vocals. There is a heavy jazz influence here, and most of the music is intrumental. "The Dr. and the Diamond" a track dedicated to Dr. Dre and Diamond D, has a guitar riff that sticks in your head. "The Shadow Knows" is a long intrumental dedicated to DJ Shadow. The string arrangements here keep tha album listenable when the beats or vocals cut out. Plus, it comes in a slide-out case which resembles a record lp case, and a cd-rom with Axelrod detailing how he created the album."