"EVIL WAYS"

 (em Riggins Remix)

 orign. 

Willie Bobo

Karriem Riggins has thrived as a left-of-center hip hop impresario and in-demand drummer for artists such as Diana Krall and others. A respected producer who has turned knobs for The Roots, Common, and most recently Erykah Badu, his jazz background makes him the ideal Verve series candidate. He chose to play outrider to one of famed latin percussionist Willie Bobo’s most treasured interpretations, the simmering “Evil Ways,” from his 1967 disc Bobo Motion. Willie’s sparkling small combo sound melds seamlessly into Riggins’ intimate approach – session man to session man - a cool embrace of timeless, ‘greasy’ rhythms and pure latin soul sopped up into a bristling cauldron of hopped-up funk.

"EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE"

 (9th Wonder Remix )

 orign. 

Roy Ayers

With producers Dahlia Ambach Caplin and Todd C. Roberts personally asking Roy Ayers for permission to include his influential classic “Everybody Loves The Sunshine,” Remixed 4 wouldn’t be complete without this durable funk classic set in motion. Sampled by scores of hip hop artists and often cited as a touchstone of the acid jazz movement of the 1980s, Ayers’ 1976 album of the same name is a mainstay of every DJ’s collection. North Carolina DJ/producer 9th Wonder (he’s worked with Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and others) gets the nod here, and he delivers the Ayers’ classic to yet another generation of fans via intricate multitracking that captures a swaying immortality about the memorable song echoing back to its funk roots.

"I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU"

 (Cinematic Orchestra Remix)

 orign. 

Ella Fitzgerald

One of the most haunting and original offerings in the history of the Verve Remix series, made all the more enticing by enigmatic mastermind Jason Swinscoe, the man behind the Cinematic Orchestra’s British-based electro/jazz sleight-of-hand. The determined producer/remixer pares down the Ella Fitzgerald staple to not much more than hissing vinyl, a wispy reworking of guitar, and an ethereal vocal delay that sounds like Ella is serenading the cosmos. Plucked from her first songbook entry – 1957’s Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook - she is as she was: eternally magnificent. As chilling as it is beautiful. Time capsule stuff from a group that keeps besting itself. Somewhere far off, Cole Porter is working on their swan song.