ARTIST: Breakestra
TITLE: Hit The Floor
LABEL: Ubiquity
GENRE: Funk
BITRATE: 159kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 05min total
RELEASE DATE: 2005-10-25
RIP DATE: 2005-09-16
Track List
----------
01. Stand Up 4:56
02. Got To Let Me Know 3:28
03. Hiding 4:31
04. Burgundy Blues 5:30
05. Don't Need A Dance 4:15
06. Sunny Delight 2:43
07. At The End Of The Day 3:34
08. Recognize 5:02
09. Keep On Playin' 4:03
10. See Sawing 5:56
11. Family Rap (Feat. Chali 2na, 5:07
Soup And Double K)
12. How Do You Really Feel? 8:44
13. Show And Prove 2:57
14. Hit The Floor 5:05
Release Notes:
Break. As in "breakbeat." That ten second slice of percussive magic in the
middle of a funk song that, when looped together by progressive South Bronx DJs
in the 1970s, became the basis of the hip-hop movement. Arkestra. Out-there
jazzer Sun Ra's funkafied concept of the stuffy classical orchestra. Flip the
script and you wind up with a unique definition of the 10 piece, Los Angeles
based ensemble known as The Breakestra. The Breakestra was born as the result of
a vision by bassist/guitarist/upright cellist/producer Miles Tackett. Tackett
fell in love with hip-hop after hearing Ultramagnetic MC's' Critical Beatdown in
the late 1980s - the era in which tons of dusty drum breaks and funky samples
first saw the light of day via enterprising hip hop producers such as Paul C.,
Pete Rock, Large Professor and DJ Premier. "In retrospect, I see that I
gravitated towards hip hop because of its roots in funk music, " Tackett told
URB Magazine in 1999. "Now I realize that hip hop is the only music keeping funk
alive." In 1996, Tackett more actively embraced his role as cultural
preservationist. As part of the original crew that produced LA's weekly
coffeehouse series The Breaks, Tackett spun records by The Meters, Kool & The
Gang and The JB's. But he was a musician before he was a DJ. Why not assemble a
band to rock the breaks he loved? A band that could interpolate and interpret
that glorious funk for the hip-hop generation?
Led by Tackett, the band that became The Breakestra came together: Josh "Wallet"
Cohen on drums, Geoff "Double G" Gallegos on sax and flute, Todd Simon and Paul
Vargas on trumpet, Dan Osterman on trombone, Carlos Guaico on keys, Davy
Chegwidden on percussion, Dan Ubick on guitar, Soulsister Demya and Mixmaster
Wolf on vocals and Tackett himself on bass, upright cello and vocals. The Breaks
has since morphed into a Thursday night extravaganza called the Root Down, in
reverence to organist Jimmy Smith's classic. Tackett and The Breakestra perform
regularly to capacity crowds along side hip hop luminaries such as Jurassic 5,
Dilated Peoples, Black Eyed Peas, Freestyle Fellowship, Company Flow, Cut
Chemist, Nu-Mark and DJ Shadow. And Tackett has transformed from a hip hop fan
into a respected hip hop producer. Alongside producing T-Love's acclaimed
"Return of the B-girl" EP and supplying tracks for Cut Chemist and Rakka of
Dilated Peoples, he's also written songs for Macy Gray's debut LP. The world got
a taste of The Breakestra flavor when the band dropped their debut "Getcho Soul
Togetha" on Stones Throw Records in the summer of 1999. Deep funk DJs like
England's Keb Darge and Ian Wright and NYC's heavy-duty soulster Kenny Dope
quickly picked up on the accessible slab of JB tinged excitement - on which the
multitalented Tackett plays drums, bass and guitar! And The Breakestra has
earned the respect of the funk artists whose music inspires them. They've played
with The Arkestra. At a recent show in Nashville, Tennessee they played
alongside legends Galt MacDermot, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie and Wilbur "Bad"
Bascomb. MacDermot, composer of the musical HAIR, gushes "These guys do have it
together... they're solid." And Weldon Irvine, the seminal soul jazz pianist
sampled by ATCQ and KRS-One amongst others, proclaimed "The Breakestra is really
my kind of vibe." No doubt!