What It Is! (Kahil El'Zabar album)

What It Is! is an album by American jazz percussionist Kahil El'Zabar, which was recorded in 2012 and released on Delmark. It was the debut of a quartet comprising three young players from the school of Chicago's AACM: tenor saxophonist Kevin Nabors, pianist Justin Dillard and bassist Junius Paul. The album includes five originals and two jazz standards by John Coltrane: "Impressions" and "Central Park West".

Reception

The Down Beat review by John Murph states "Kahil El’Zabar moves toward the center this time around and releases one of his most accessible discs yet. The adventurous drummer and bandleader steers an impressive quartet, composed of some of the newer generations of the AACM, and emphasizes blues, swing and groove."

The All About Jazz review by Troy Collins says "Whether navigating funky R&B, modal post-bop or expressionistic abstraction, El'Zabar's young sidemen invest their efforts with palpable conviction, imparting even textbook extrapolations with heartfelt urgency."

What It Is

What It Is is a slang phrase popularized in the 1990s as a greeting or as another way to ask an individual about their well-being or general perception of things (similar to "How are you?", "How is it going?" or "What's Up?") It is a shortening of the greeting, "What it is, what it was, and what it shall be," popular in the 1960s among African Americans.

It also may refer to :

Music

Album

Song

Other

Don't Feed da Animals

Don't Feed da Animals is the second studio album by American rapper Gorilla Zoe. It was released on March 17, 2009.The album peaked at number 8 on the US Billboard 200, number 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and number 1 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums. The album sold 29,000 copies in its first week, and 134,660 copies to date.

Critical reception

Don't Feed da Animals received mixed reviews from music critics. Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews credited the album for toning down on the skits and featured guests to showcase Zoe's vocal delivery but found it lacking with more luxury rap and silliness. Juon called it "a slight improvement over [Gorilla] Zoe's debut, but his personality still tends to get lost in the mix and he sometimes seems to be a caricature of Southern rap instead of one of its stars." David Jeffries of AllMusic said that while the album carried the usual ear-grabbing club tracks, it was kept down by the more sophomoric lyricism in tracks like "S*** on 'Em" and "Lost". Brendan Frederick of XXL said he saw some growth in Zoe's brag-rap lyricism along with introspective in the track "Lost," saying that he found his "comfort zone somewhere between singsongy rap and electro R&B, proving that this boy from the hood is finally starting to man up."

Mix

Mix, mixes, mixture, or mixing may refer to:

In mathematics, science, and technology

In electronics and telecommunications

Other uses in mathematics, science, and technology

DJ mix

A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as turntables, CD players, digital audio players or computer sound cards, sometimes with the addition of samplers and effects units, although it's possible to create one using sound editing software.

DJ mixing is significantly different from live sound mixing. Remix services were offered beginning in the late 1970s in order to provide music which was more easily beatmixed by DJs for the dancefloor. One of the earliest DJs to refine their mixing skills was DJ Kool Herc.Francis Grasso was the first DJ to use headphones and a basic form of mixing at the New York nightclub Sanctuary. Upon its release in 2000, Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto Presents: Another World became the biggest selling dj mix album in the US.

Music

A DJ mix is often put together with music from genres that fit into the more general term electronic dance music. Other genres mixed by DJ includes hip hop, breakbeat and disco. Four on the floor disco beats can be used to create seamless mixes so as to keep dancers locked to the dancefloor. Two of main characteristics of music used in dj mixes is a dominant bassline and repetitive beats. Music mixed by djs usually has a tempo which ranges from 120 bpm up to 160 bpm.

MIX (XM)

MIX, often branded on-air as Today's Mix, was a channel on XM Satellite Radio playing the Hot Adult Contemporary format. It was located on XM 12 (previously 22) and plays a mix of hit songs from 1980-present day, except for urban music. MIX was one of 5 channels on XM's platform that plays commercial advertisements, which amount to about 3–4 minutes an hour, and are sold by Premiere Radio Networks. The channel was programmed by Clear Channel Communications, and was Clear Channel's most listened to channel on XM Radio, in both cume and AQH, according to the Fall 2007 Arbitron book.

Artists heard on MIX included Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Lenny Kravitz, Jewel and Nelly Furtado; and groups like Maroon 5 and Blues Traveler. One can also hear top chart hits including songs from Train, Alanis Morissette, 3 Doors Down, Evanescence, Dave Matthews Band, No Doubt, Santana, Matchbox Twenty, and U2.

On June 8, 2011, this was replaced by a simulcast by WHTZ, licensed to Newark, New Jersey and serving the New York City area.