Lettuce and Talib Kweli collaborated on the first track, “Didn’t You,” from a forthcoming Count Basie tribute album. Late Night Basie is due out on April 7 via Primary Wave Music.
The tribute album to the jazz legend who played a leading role in developing the big band and swing subgenres is a collection of interpretations from Basie’s extensive catalog from contemporary artists intended to introduce Basie’s music to a new generation. Among the contributors are Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, The Count Basie Orchestra (directed by Scotty Barnhart), Cimafunk, Larkin Poe, The Soul Rebels, Jazzmeia Horn, Ray Angry, Will Lee & Shawn Pelton, Jimmy Vivino, Weedie Braimah and more.
“I see Basie as an artist who didn’t care about overwhelming you with a torrent of notes. He made the right choice in the right place at the right time to create space to hear and absorb the intent and feeling of the music,” Late Night Basie producer Paul Peck noted. “This quality among others makes him so universally understood and so impactful, that he is the core of an almost infinite number of musical variations.”
The first taste of Late Night Basie as well as the collection’s opening track is funk outfit Lettuce and rapper Talib Kweli’s team-up on “Didn’t You.” The song originally appears on The Count’s landmark 1957 album April In Paris.
“Paying respect to a legend as grand as Count Basie is an honor,” Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch told Consequence, who premiered “Didn’t You.”. Deitch added, “When Eric Bloom and I sat at my upright piano in my living room to create an arrangement for ‘Didn’t You,’ we decided to give it an almost sultry, relaxed, and elegant feeling.”
“When Adam Deitch asked me to help choose a Count Basie song to ‘flip,’ I almost lost my mind!” Lettuce trumpet player Eric “Benny” Bloom added. “As a trumpet player, I am a major fan of big band music, especially Count Basie‘s whole catalog. He is one of the original creators of Black American Music and I have been listening to his April in Paris record, (where the original version of ‘Didn’t You’ comes from), since I was 15.”
Deitch also spoke about Kweli’s contribution to the Basie tribute. “Talib, a master wordsmith, recorded a very descriptive and educational verse that encapsulated the feel of the song, transporting the listener into a combination of both the swing era and modern times,” the drummer said.
Listen to Lettuce and Talib Kweli on “Didn’t You” below:
Late Night Basie Tracklist:
- Didn’t You Lettuce (Feat. Talib Kweli)
- One O’Clock Jump – The Count Basie Orchestra (Feat. Jazzmeia Horn & Ray Angry)
- Blue & Sentimental – Larkin Poe (Feat. Will Lee & Shawn Pelton)
- M-Squad – The Count Basie Orchestra (Feat. Terence Blanchard)
- Jumpin’ at the Woodside – The Count Basie Orchestra (Feat. Jimmy Vivino & Ray Angry)
- St. Thomas – The Soul Rebels (Feat. Nicholas Payton, Cimafunk & Weedie Braimah)
- One O’Clock Jump (Bonus track) – Danny Jonokuchi & The Revisionists
