The '90s and early to mid-2000s saw quite a few projects that claimed to be fusing hip-hop and jazz. Most of them ended up being more hip-hop than jazz, although saxophonist
Bill Evans (as opposed to the late pianist) was an impressive exception. When
Evans featured various rappers in the '90s, he maintained an improviser's mentality and used MCs in much the same way he would have used a jazz singer -- he forced them to interact with a real, honest-to-God, spontaneity-minded band instead of simply giving them electronic tracks to rap over. This compilation doesn't unite jazz improvisers with a lot of rappers -- actually, most of the tunes are instrumental -- but it finds jazz improvisers paying tribute to hip-hop (and, to a lesser degree, R&B) with fairly creative results at times.
Def Jazz isn't as consistent as it could have been; some of the tracks are routine, pedestrian smooth jazz. But the album's most interesting tracks are definitely worth talking about. "Hey, Young World," which features saxman
Gerald Albright, is a real winner; the reggae-influenced gem was originally recorded by rapper
Slick Rick in 1988 (a few years before he went to prison), and on
Def Jazz, it works enjoyably well as a pop-jazz instrumental. The same goes for performances of
Method Man's "Bring the Pain" (which features flutist
Hubert Laws) and
Public Enemy's "Give It Up"; they aren't the first tunes one would expect jazz instrumentalists (even pop-jazz instrumentalists) to embrace, but Tony Joseph (the project's producer) demonstrates that hardcore rap tunes can, in fact, be reinvented as instrumental crossover jazz. Instrumental versions of
LL Cool J's "Doin' It" and
Foxy Brown's "Get U Home" aren't terribly memorable, but singer
Oran "Juice" Jones has some inspired moments when he revisits his 1986 hit "The Rain" and provides the album's only urban/neo-soul vocal offering. Again,
Def Jazz has its share of missteps, but the ups outnumber the downs and make this a CD that is generally worth exploring if you're the sort of eclectic listener who holds hip-hop and jazz in equally high regard. ~ Alex Henderson