Us3

Us3 is a jazz-rap group founded in London in 1992. Their name was inspired by a Horace Parlan recording produced by Alfred Lion, the founder of Blue Note Records. On their debut album, Hand on the Torch, Us3 exclusively used samples from the Blue Note Records catalogue, all originally produced by Lion.

History

Us3 is the brainchild of London-based producer Geoff Wilkinson. Formed in 1992 alongside production partner Mel Simpson, Us3 had two previous incarnations. The first, a limited edition white label 12" release in 1990 called "Where Will We Be In The 21st Century". The release garnered the attention of independent label Ninja Tune, resulting in NW1's 1991 12" "The Band Played The Boogie" featuring UK Rapper Born 2 B. It sampled a dancefloor tune of the burgeoning jazz dance scene, Grant Green's "Sookie Sookie", originally released on Blue Note Records.

London's Kiss FM added "The Band Played The Boogie" to its playlist and Wilkinson received a call summoning him to EMI Records's offices in London. Wilkinson avoided a lawsuit and was granted rights to the archives of Blue Note Records . One of the resulting demos, recorded in March 1992, was "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia),"featuring UK Trumpeter Gerard Presencer. It sampled Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island. Two years later, it entered the US top ten and was included on Hand on the Torch, the first Blue Note album to achieve Platinum status (1,000,000 sales) in the USA.

Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

"Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" is a song by jazz-rap group Us3 from their 1993 album Hand on the Torch.

It features a sample of Herbie Hancock's song "Cantaloupe Island", and reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the group's only top 40 single.

"Cantaloop" was certified gold by the RIAA on March 25, 1994 for sales of over 500,000 copies.

Song information

The original song ("Cantaloupe Island") is a 16 bar repeated chart consisting of F minor for 4 measures, D♭7 for 4 measures, D minor for 4 measures, then F minor again. "Cantaloop" excludes the D minor section, uses the F minor section during the verses, and goes between the F minor and D♭7 during the horn riffs and trumpet solo. The featured soloist is Gerard Presencer.

The song makes notable mention of the Birdland jazz club in New York City in its opening line – "Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have something special down here at Birdland this evening: a recording for Blue Note Records." The line, spoken by Pee Wee Marquette, is taken from Art Blakey's first Birdland album A Night at Birdland Vol. 1.

Hand on the Torch

Hand on the Torch is the debut album by the jazz-rap group Us3. It received much attention because of its mix of jazz and rap, using live jazz musicians. All samples used on the album are from old Blue Note classics: the most famous being Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island", used on the track "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)", which was recorded with two different music videos.

In 2003 The Ultimate Hand on the Torch was released, including many of the songs used as sampling material on Hand on the Torch.

Track listing

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues.

Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, from 1947 the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz. While the original company did not itself record many of the pioneers of bebop, significant exceptions are Thelonious Monk, Fats Navarro and Bud Powell.

Historically, Blue Note has principally been associated with the "hard bop" style of jazz (mixing bebop with other forms of music including soul, blues, rhythm and blues and gospel), but also recorded essential albums in the avant-garde and free styles of jazz. Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Grant Green, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, and Jackie McLean were among the label's leading artists. During its heyday, the 1950s and 60s, the photography and graphic art of Reid Miles created a series of iconic album covers, often incorporating session photos by Wolff, which added to Blue Note's artistic reputation.

I Got It

"I Got It" may refer to:

Songs

See also