Jazz
US3: Mel Simpson (keyboards, programming); Geoff Wilkinson (programming, sampling, scratches).
Additional personnel: Rahsaan, KCB, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Tukka Yoot, Kobie Powell (rap vocals); Ed Jones (soprano saxophone); Mike Smith (tenor saxophone); Alexander Pope Norris, Gerard Presencer (trumpet); Dennis Rollins (trombone); Gareth Williams (piano); Tim Vine (electric piano).
Producers include: Mel Simpson, Geoff Wilkinson, Jim Hawkins, Nellee Hooper, Blacksmith.
Compilation producer: Eli Wolf.
On their two albums, 1993's HAND ON THE TORCH and 1997's 52ND AND BROADWAY, London natives Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson showed excellent taste in jazz samples. The two producers had full access to the enormous Blue Note Records catalogue, and they showed remarkable facility in turning familiar phrases into slinky hip-hop riffs. Us3's excellent 1994 hit single "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" lifts from pianist Herbie Hancock's mid-'60s post-bop classic "Cantaloupe Island" made the track an unforgettable archetype of the regrettably short-lived acid jazz movement.
The rest of FLIP FANTASIA: HIT AND REMIXES, a ten-song condensation of Us3's two releases, is nearly the equal of that hit. Samples from such jazz giants as Freddie Hubbard and Benny Green power Wilkinson and Simpson's slick, glossy beats. Unfortunately, the accompanying raps tend to be uninspired and forgettable. Nonetheless, the jazzers are the stars throughout FLIP FANTASIA.Remixes By Q-Burns Abstract, Nelle Hooper |
