January 26, 2007: Jazz and Hip Hop
Even though the recent Ken Burns documentary on jazz generally dismisses hip hop as a musical genre, one of the clips featured in episode 10 (used to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of jazz) shows bassist Ron Carter performing with French rapper MC Solaar. We’ll play you the Carter/MC Solaar collaboration, as well as more music resulting from the historical connections between hip hop and jazz. From the calypsonians like Mighty Sparrow, to Gil-Scott Heron, to Herbie Hancock‘s classic track “Rockit” (featuring DJ Grand Mixer DXT on turntables), listen here to jazz and hip hop droppin’ science. Bryan does the worm in the studio while Rob finds a word that rhymes with “orange.”