Pullin from the Stacks

A little tribute to some of the incredible music and musicians in the hometown. Summertime Portland funk and hip-hop off the digital decks. Apologies for the sloppy mixing, still figuring out this new mixer! Tracklist: Mic Capes ft. Farnell Newton and jaminah, Shine Runna, Libretto ft. Jumbo and Theory Hazit, Trox, Cool Nutz, Rev Shines, Alley Oop, Vursatyl, Alex Stange

One of my all time favorite musicians has moved on - Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand, South African legend, whose tunes fueled the anti-apartheid movement. This tribute is long overdue since I have played his records consistently over many years. Truly majestic and inspirational music. These are just a couple of my favorites. Tracklist: Mannenberg, Bra Joe from Killamanjaro, Liberation Dance, Sa...

Heavy fusion melters on this one! RIP to the legends Dexter Wansel and Rob Base. Tracklist: Galactic Force Band, Dexter Wansel, Barry De Vorzon, Brian Bennett, Vels Trio, Thijs Van Leer, Peter Green, Dexter Wansel, Alan Hawkshaw, Boom Clap Bachelors

Spent a week in Sweden - and Copenhagen - trying to find as many interesting and affordable jazz records as I could! Some really dope shops and dealers and all kinds of music and records. Here's a few - not necessarily Swedish musicians only but an array of the pieces I picked up. Tracklist: Ragnarök, Entrance, Finn Savery Trio, EGBA, H and K, Collage, Jan Hammer Junior Trio, Jazz Q Praha

Been stacking up a lot of records to listen to recently - honestly buying more than I was listening, which isn't healthy. So it's time to start going through some of these and engaging with the amazing music on each one. Real eclectic mix today, probably another similar mix coming soon. Stay well out there everyone. Tracklist: Jules Blattner Group, Mini Mizzou, Univ of New Orleans Jazz Lab, Junior...

Seems like a good time to remind folks - especially in the US - that Cuba has continued to suffer under the US embargo and especially recently under the more aggressive Trump measures, things are in a horrific place and many people are dying. This mix of OG Cuban records - some bought on my trip to the country in 2015 - is a tribute to the amazing people across the country who have continued to fi...

DJs Junior and Lil Dave have been dropping some of the best new (and older) music weekly on Philadelphia radio for many, many years every Friday night. I regularly tune in via podcast to catch up on the most soulful new house jams, funk edits, hip-hop and so much more. You can subscribe here and wherever you might catch podcasts - http://podomatic.com/podcasts/eavesdropradio. It was an honor to dr...

Like many people, I love the well-produced 'live in studio' videos musicians and artists have done over the past decade or so, especially the ongoing series from NPR's Tiny Desk and KEXP's studio sessions. There's also other great performances that mostly are available only in the depths of YouTube, though it seems like some artists are finally realizing they could press these on vinyl or release...

Been awhile since I've done a J-Dilla dedication, thought I'd pull a few favorites and related tracks / covers from the crates for you all. All praise due! Tracklist: Hugh Hopper, Something for the People, Macy Gray, Visioneers, The Roots, Carlos Nino Miguel Atwood-Fergueson Georgia Muldrow, Jaubi

Felt like getting into some hip-hop wax this week, here's a few joints relevant to current events. Enjoy! Tracklist: Big L and Fat Joe, Pacewon, Gangstarr, Cypress Hill, Del, The Coup, The Fugees, Large Professor ft Q-Tip

Went back into the stacks to play a few classics, create a certain soundtrack for the time. Needed to come back to prescient voices of Nina, Gil, and others. Don't let these nazi stormtroopers instill fear in your soul, and at the same time, stay safe! Tracklist: Eugene McDaniels, The Middlebrooks Musical Ensemble, Ashton Gardner, Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, dia prometido, Mandrill, Nina Si...

Kicking off the new years with some recent finds containing cover versions of classics old and new. Hard to simply just play records at this moment in time with ICE murdering people in the street and the federal government tweeting out literal KKK slogans. Please stay safe and if you can, give money to STOPICE.NET or local groups doing copwatch or ICE watch in your area if you can! Tracklist: Tani...

These are some of my favorite record purchases this past year - some are more expensive that I happened across at a flea market or online, while others were unknown to me, fortunate pick-ups from the Salvation Army milkcrates or a random jazz bin in from a store in central Cali. All have importance to me in different ways and are beautiful pieces of music. Stay safe out there as we end the year an...

Even though hip-hop music is the basis for all my record collecting, I have trouble staying up on all the new releases these days as I drift more and more into jazz and other musical forms. Shout out to my guy Noah for keeping me as informed as possible about new releases! These are a few tracks that have gotten a lot of repeated listens this past year. Mixed on Serato since a few of these have no...

Took a long breather over the month of November, back now with a stack of the new and old digs. RIP the great Jamil Al-Amin fka H. Rap Brown, immortalized on the Flying Dutchman release with Leon Thomas. It's December and things are getting cold in most parts of the country, for those with means please donate to your local shelters and places like Food Not Bombs, or to your favorite local organiza...

Been doing a fair amount of travel and digging the last couple months, making finds at antique shops as well as the floor-level bins at record stores. Taking chances on things when I can and selecting a few others from the wall if it's a fair price and I likely won't see it again. Here's a good mix of what I've grabbed recently, super eclectic, dig in! Tracklist: Roy Brown, Liana Pascalini and the...

Was recently in Chicago and had many record store adventures. One record that popped up in the cheap bins was something I'd been after, "Chicago Jazz Dance Revival at Gus Place" by the Johnny Frigo Quartet. Frigo and his various groups put out several records of "jazz dance music" for Gus Giordano in the late 60s and early 70s covering jazz, rock and funk tunes of the day. I've been slowly grabbin...

Cannonball would have turned 97 this month were he still with us. His records were some of the first I collected - there are so many and so varied, his dedication to recording live sets for his albums and playing with countless amazing musicians, infusing politics into his music and his "raps" in-between songs, is all legendary. I had not realized until now that all of this was done in such a shor...

The world is spinning and it's hard to keep up with everything right now! Been out digging though, shopping and selecting a nice stack of favorites and obscurities the past month. Hope everyone is holding tight and not giving up! There are still paths to victory, don't let the naysayers stop any of us. Tracklist: Spanky Wilson, Irma Thomas, Nucleus, Osmar Milito, Natural Four, Freidrich Gulda, Jan...

A brief tribute to the legend Eddie Palmieri, whose music and politics were inspiring and incredible, especially right now in this moment! Brilliant and beautiful music, these are just a few of my favorites from his records.

Short mix of some of my favorite G-funk instrumentals, with several from the originator himself, Warren G, as well as a couple other LA producers. Something for the late summer, windows down, city streets at twilight.

Recent jazz-related aquisitions from various digging adventures. Big shout to Paradise Trading Post in Lompoc - found an Ahmad Jamal album I'd never seen before! Dig in. Tracklist: Ahmad Jamal, Kenny Barron, John Wood, Horace Silver, Ted Vining Trio, Jack Walrath

Another celebration of the beautiful and revolutionary music from the Indigenous, Latin and Afro-Latin diaspora - only other thing to say right now is F*CK ICE and stay strong everyone! Donate to CHIRLA here: www.chirla.org/donatenow/ Tracklist: El Chicano, Eddie Palmieri, Ismael Rivera, Willie Bobo, Fania All Stars, Bobby Guajardo and the Latin Breed, Grupo Irakere, Mongo Santamaria, Los Van Van,...

Some recent digs and old records. Sending strength to everyone dealing with these ICE raids. Stay safe out there! If you have the funds, I recommend donating to the Coalition for Humane Human Rights - www.chirla.org/ Tracklist: Gil Scott Heron, Herb Drury Trio, Peter Herbolzeimher, Charles Tolliver, Masaru Imada and George Mraz, Paco Rossana

There was a time when I owned 4-5 copies of Sly Stone's "FRESH" album, it was so vitally important to me. I remember hearing it for the first time in the 90s and it blew my mind. I preached the Sly gospel since to many friends of my age in the years since. That album will always be a cornerstone of musical history and importance to me, and helped me on my record digging journey forward. So many pe...