- Electro-jazz divas is a collection of the finest electro-jazz producers (quite a broad term of music in a sense) who have teamed up with some of the sexiest and sultriest vocalists to deliver a strong compilation of 17 songs each with their own take on the vocal led jazz theme. Artists whose names are easily associated to electro-jazz such as Jazzanova, Mr Scruff, Matthew Herbert to name but a few sit alongside divas of the highest calibre including, Norah Jones, Jill Scott and Sarah Vaughan.
Llorca present their classic Indigo Blues featuring the warm vocals of Nicole Graham. Upbeat samba-esque rhythms featuring an uplifting piano riff, jazzy double bass lick and a summery trumpet solo. It had made it's way onto Dimitri from Paris' second Playboy CD. Nathan Haines' Squire For Hire features the spoken word talents of Marlena Shaw telling the story of some cool cat from her neighbourhood. backed up by militant drum beats, funky horn arrangements and a cool bass line melody.
Jill Scott provides a jazzy R&B take on Goldtrix "Trippin" this time called It's Love. Whether the original tune is actually called It's Love or Trippin', I'm not too sure but what I can say is that Jill Scott turns the song into a cool horn laden number with plenty of street sensibilities. Multi-grammy award winner Norah Jones provides her ethereal vocal stylings to Wax Poetic's Angels where she sings accompanied by a French spoken word vocalist on a downtempo hip hop beat laced with a piano riff, sax solo and scratches to boot.
Mr Scruff teams up with some time Ninja artist collaborator Seaming To on the 70's blaxploitation/cop drama soundtrack funk of Beyond. Disco guitar licks and melodic bass make a wonderful backdrop for Seaming To's Psiren like harmonies.
De-Phazz and Barbara Lahr provide a live take on the theme with Good Boy and it has to be expected as well - a proper backing band consisting of a proper trap kit, double bass, percussionist and guitars all rocking to a slow swaying beat provide a nice accompaniment to Barbara's warm vocals.
Finally, Matthew Herbert teams up with Dani Siciliano to close off the CD with the uptempo and slightly deep housey Suddenly. Percussive latin house rhythms featuring excellent use of percussion breaks and funky piano riffs lay a good foundation for Dani's whose vocals get passed through various filters and effects unit for a nice close to the CD.
What's great about this compilation is rather than being a collection of tunes, the artists bring an important factor to the table - the divas proper song structures with verses and choruses aplenty while the producers incorporate lots of instrumentation into their music (yet keeping to a nice electronic feel throughout). A great collection for home listening.