Yesterdays New Quintet

Yesterday’s New Quintet – Yesterday’s Universe

Aliases have grown to be a large part of hip hop culture. Everyone works more often behind a moniker than his own birth right name. Producer extraordinaire Madlib, whose created wonderful musical worlds under the names of Quasimoto, Jaylib and Madvillian, has once again stepped into the his finest tailored duds, and revived his self-created jazz band, Yesterday’s New Quintet. Surrounding himself with an arsenal of instruments and the influence of several decades of jazz, Madlib (Otis
Jackson Jr.) –with special guests including drummer Karriem Riggins and Azymuth precussionist Mamao – connects the dots between the groove oriented fusion of soul-jazz and the headier moments of 70’s avante-garde jazz movement. “Slave Riot” is muscled with an explosion of percussive soloing and a synthesizer meltdown that resembles the wilder compositions of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi years, and funky drumming of “Street Talkin’” may be a the best Bernard Purdie track the Beastie Boys never stole. If you covet your Impusle and Strata East re-issues, Madlib offers you some additional astral traveling.