Cornell Rochester & The N.P. Boys – I Said Your Mother’s on the Pipe
Cornell Rochester & The N.P. Boys – I Said Your Mother’s on the Pipe
Cornell Rochester & The N.P. Boys – I Said Your Mother’s on the Pipe (CD3004)
Philadelphia jazz, funk and hip-hop in one band. Drummer Cornell Rochester, known for his work with Odean Pope and James Blood Ulmer, recorded this album with his N.P. Boys on May 30 and 31, 1993 at Fairland Studios in Germany. The band: Willie Williams on soprano and tenor saxophone, a young Uri Caine on keyboards, Terry “Butter” Tyler on electric bass and Andre “Black Snow” Harris on vocals and rap.
The music mixes hard-grooving jazz-funk with hip-hop attitude. There’s driving funk on “Groovin’ Down the Highway” and “Flyin’ Down the Highway”, a tribute to bebop and the saxophonist in “Will Bop”, keyboard showcases like “Uri’s World” and the playful “Black Keys vs. White Keys”, and rap-based pieces like the title track and “Hardcore”. Rochester’s powerful, precise drumming holds it all together. It’s a snapshot of the early 1990s, when jazz musicians took on the sounds of the street.
This is a must for fans of jazz-funk, acid jazz, jazz rap and the Philadelphia scene. Released on Moers Music. When you buy here, you’re buying directly from the label, and we only sell originals.
The Side Story
Cornell Rochester is one of Philadelphia’s great drummers. In 1982 he recorded Almost Like Me with the Odean Pope Trio, and in 1990 Out for a Walk (both on Moers Music). Later he replaced Ronald Shannon Jackson in James Blood Ulmer’s Music Revelation Ensemble. In 1993, the year this album was made, he also played at the North Sea Jazz Festival with Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Podium Trio.
The connection to Uri Caine goes back a long way. Caine made his recording debut in 1985 with the band of Cornell Rochester and bassist Gerald Veasley. Caine later became one of the most original pianists in jazz, known for his jazz versions of Mahler, Bach and Wagner, and his work with John Zorn, Dave Douglas and Don Byron. Here you can hear him in a completely different setting, as a funky keyboard player in a groove band.
The recording dates are interesting too. On May 29, 1993, Jamaaladeen Tacuma played the Moers Festival with Basso Nouveau (CD2098). The very next day, Rochester and the N.P. Boys went into the studio.
Tracklist
I Said Your Mother’s on the Pipe – 2:56
Groovin’ Down the Highway – 7:15
I Don’t Know You Don’t Know – 5:34
Will Bop – 6:58
Black Keys vs. White Keys – 4:23
Do You Remember – 4:05
Uri’s World – 5:10
Flyin’ Down the Highway – 5:11
Hardcore – 3:10
Total running time: approx. 45 minutes
Personnel
Cornell Rochester – drums, vocals
Willie Williams – soprano & tenor saxophone
Uri Caine – keyboards, vocals
Terry “Butter” Tyler – electric bass, vocals
Andre “Black Snow” Harris – vocals, rap
Details
Format: CD
Label: Moers Music
Catalog no.: CD3004
Recorded: May 30 & 31, 1993, Fairland Studios, Germany
Price: €14.00