With their new Velour Recordings release, Outta Here, Lettuce comes raw: no fluff, nothing smooth, just hard funk.  The record combines the grit of the Meters, the harmonic textures of Herbie Hancock, and the hyper-tempo funk of live James Brown.

Back in ‘92, the guys met at the Berklee summer program and were drawn together by their love of classic funk. Only 15 years old, they began taking over clubs and jam sessions in Boston, storming the stage whenever they could. Underage and with no gear, everywhere they went it was, "Let us borrow your drum kit" and simply "Let us play." And Lettuce (Let us) was born.  Since that summer, the guys have all had success -- Eric & Sam play with Soulive, Adam drums for AWB and the John Scofield Band, Erick produces for Sunshine Anderson, Ryan was a founding member of Rustic Overtones -- but they’ve all waited for this long-overdue reunion.

On the new record, Lettuce is joined by some of their heroes. Guitar great John Scofield rips on Flu the Coop and Back in Effect, to which Neal Evans of Soulive lends his B-3 chops. Trombone legend Fred Wesley lends some funk to the James Brown-inspired Superfred and the title track Outta Here.

Despite the record’s title, Lettuce is anything but outta here.  The band is focused on their upcoming tour of the U.S. and Japan.  It’s been ten years in the making, but Lettuce’s bid to re-land the funk mothership on planet Earth has begun.

The story begins with a man on high. He is an old man, a warrior, and the guardian to the gates of a city. Two miles below his mountainous perch, he observes a dojo, where a group of young men train night and day. Eventually, the old man expects a challenger to emerge. He hopes for the day of his destruction, for this is the cycle of life.
Finally the doors fly open and three young men burst forth to challenge the old master. The first man is quick, but not strong enough. The second is quick, and strong, but not wise enough. The third stands tall, and overtakes the master. The Changing of the Guard has at long last been achieved.
But then the old man wakes up. He looks down at the dojo and realizes he’s been daydreaming. The dojo below exists, but everyone in training is yet a child. By the time they grow old enough to challenge the old man, he has disappeared.
This is, in essence, both a true story and a carefully constructed musical daydream, one that will further unfold in May of 2015, in a brazen release from young Los Angeles jazz giant, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington. The Epic is unlike anything jazz has seen, and not just because it emanates from the boundary-defying Brainfeeder, which isn’t so much a label in the traditional sense as it is an unfurling experiment conducted by the underground producer Flying Lotus who has featured Washington on his albums Cosmogramma and You’re Dead!.
The Epic is a 172-minute, three-volume set that includes a 32-piece orchestra, a 20-person choir, and 17 songs overlaid with a compositional score written by Washington. Pulsing underneath is an otherworldly ten-piece band, each member of which is individually regarded as among the best young musicians on the planet – including bassist Thundercat and his brother, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., bassist (yes, there are two) Miles Mosley, drummer Tony Austin (of course there are two), keyboard player Brandon Coleman, pianist Cameron Graves, and trombonist Ryan Porter. Patrice Quinn’s ethereal vocals round out the ensemble.
The band are all from Los Angeles, mostly South Central, and its members – who call themselves variously “The Next Step” and the “The West Coast Get Down” – have been congregating since they were barely teenagers in a backyard shack in Inglewood. Washington, 32, has known Bruner since he was two. The rest met, at various stages, by the time they were in high school. The hours they have put into the music, playing together and practicing alone, total cumulatively in the tens of thousands.
“Nothing compares to these guys,” says Barbara Sealy, the former West Coast director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, who has championed Kamasi and his compatriots from the beginning. “I challenge any group to go out on stage with them and see if they can keep up with it… Kamasi is at the top of his game, and only getting better.” “These young guys,” the rapper Common says, “remind me of why I love music.”
And the story The Epic tells, without words but rather through some combination of magic, mastery, and sheer force of imagination, is the story of Kamasi Washington and the Next Step and their collective mission: to remove jazz from the shelf of relics and make it new, unexpected, and dangerous again. They seek to both honour and alter tradition: as The Epic’s opening track announces, they are the “Changing of the Guard”. The sound can be felt like flames, sometimes waving in the coziness of a fireplace, in other moments sweeping everything around like a backdraft. But Kamasi is always in control of the burning.
“He just plays the craziest shit, man. I mean, everything — the past, present, the future,” Flying Lotus says, whose family lineage includes one of Washington’s direct musical forebears, John Coltrane. “It’s hard to find unique voices in this music. Especially in jazz, more so lately, everybody is trying to do the same shit. I don’t want to hear ‘My Favorite Things’ anymore… What I am hearing is a leader among artists.”

Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, producer, and bandleader. Washington is known mainly for playing tenor saxophone.

Originally released in 1975 as a double live album, recorded and initially released only in Japan. Flood admirably documents Hancock's Headhunters-period in a concert setting. The tunes are mostly culled from the recommended studio albums Headhunters, Thrust and Man-Child, with an excellent remodeling of 'Maiden Voyage' opening the program.

2001 reissue of 1970 album, remastered from the original analogue tapes and packaged in a digipak. Currently out-of-print in the U.S.3 tracks. Approx. 45 minutes.

专辑介绍:
素有［黑暗王子］之称的小喇叭巨擘 Miles Davis(1929-91)　是一位奠定50年代酷派（Cool School）冷调风格，开创60年代末期Jazz-Rock 融合（Fusion）新乐风的先锋；受到咆勃时期最具代表性萨克斯风大师Charlie Parker 提携，Miles Davis 由纽约52街的酒吧表演跨入大乐团，而后自组五重奏的历程，不仅绽放个人深刻色彩，更跨越肤色藩篱成就后起之秀。张专辑是Miles Davis将摇滚乐融入爵士乐的一张作品。在新推出之时，并没有多少人认同他的新乐风，直到五至年之后才陆陆续续有人能够理解其先见之创造力!"沈默之道"，那是这张《In A Silent Way》专辑的中文译名，也许翻成「宁静之道」更妥善，更能忠实地传达出Miles营造出的那种吓人的宁静革命。这是这张专辑的阵式：
时间：1969年2月18日
地点：美国纽约市，52街上的西51号，CBS录音室裏
乐器：三架电钢琴、电吉他、贝斯、tenor sax、风琴、鼓、小喇叭
人物：Herbie Hancock、Miles Davis、Chick Corea、Wayne Shorter、Dave Holland、
Josef Zawinul、John McLaughlin、Tony Williams等八位。
创意：无限
这天，他们八员就在录音室裏花了一天时间，唏哩呼嚕地将这张《In A Silent Way》录製完成。其实说穿了它也仅有两首曲子，各为18:03的《Shhh / Peaceful》、19:57的《In A Silent Way / It's About That Time》。这合计不到四十
分鐘的专辑，却让我爱得死去活来。怎么说呢？
这时Miles Davis的想法中已经不再是传统爵士乐，不只是那些钢琴、贝斯、Sax、鼓，还有追著先辈的步伐，沈重而蹣跚地走在前人的阴影下，在夹缝中寻找生存的契机，反之，他由60年代中期以来，脑子开始出走神游，由灵魂乐教父James Brown（此公曾因在舞台上表演过於投入及兴奋，当眾昏倒）、Sly And the Family Stone（此队人马的音乐会让你的细胞变成黑人那样有强烈的韵律和节奏感）、Jimi Hendrix（此君跟我同一月日出生，所以很伟大，喔不！他是个左撇子，吉电他在他手上於30年前弹出的音效，据闻至今依旧让许多吉他爱好者抓破了头皮还是弹不出来）得来的灵感，融入了Jazz音乐中，成了通了电的Miles Davis。
Shhhh / Peaceful
0:00
由电钢琴的颤音开始，还有电吉他的音色，随后就是贝斯「短─长─」、「低─
高─」式规则的起伏。像是在星夜下无边的旷野似的，有低鸣的虫嘶，远处有无
名的篝火一落落地延烧著。
1:43
Miles的小喇叭出现了，我们延续前面的想像力，想像一下，在静謐的星空下，
出现了长吟的小喇叭声音是何感觉？是了，这裏的Trumpet就是这样的感觉。小
喇叭吹得人心七上八下的，真是好听得让人受不了。
4:18 - 18:03
小喇叭到此来进入第一个高潮，也看得出它是个主导的狠角色。此后，一直再轮
流主旋律。Miles Davis特别把曲子拉得这么长，也许是刻意要塑造那种幽暗深
远的空间感和距离的迷濛美吧。
In A Silent Way / It's About That Time
0:00
同名的单曲在这裏使用了安宁的吉他做为开场，拖沓了好一阵子，带出小喇叭的
长音演奏。这裏的空间感更加深长了。
4:15
到这裏的旋律完全改变，成为具有太空现代感般的音乐，贝斯是在暗处鼓譟的，
电吉他和电钢琴的音色有种蓝黑色的不明景象感，听上去安静，可是事实上又不
安静……
--- 上述文字来源于白云黄鹤站

Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in June of 1970 on Columbia Records.[1] Recording sessions took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio over the course of three days in August of 1969. The album continued Davis' experimentation of electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album. With the use of these instruments, such as the electric piano and guitar, Davis rejected traditional jazz rhythms in favor of a looser, rock-influenced improvisational style.
Often cited as one of Davis' best-selling albums and masterpieces, Bitches Brew marked a turning point in modern jazz. Upon release, it received mixed criticism from fans and critics, alike, due to the album's unconventional style and revolutionary sound. Later on, Bitches Brew gained recognition as one of jazz's greatest albums and a progenitor of the jazz rock genre, as well as a major influence on rock and funk musicians.[2] In 1998, Columbia Records released The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions, a four-disc box set that included the original album as well as ensuing studio sessions through February 1970.

Centered around some soundtrack music that Herbie Hancock wrote for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert cartoon show, Fat Albert Rotunda was Hancock's first full-fledged venture into jazz-funk -- and his last until Head Hunters -- making it a prophetic release. At the same time, it was far different in sound from his later funk ventures, concentrating on a romping, late-'60s-vintage R&B-oriented sound. with frequent horn riffs and great rhythmic comping and complex solos from Hancock's Fender Rhodes electric piano. The syllables of the titles alone -- "Wiggle Waggle," "Fat Mama," "Oh! Oh! Here He Comes" -- have a rhythm and feeling that tell you exactly how this music saunters and swaggers along -- just like the jolly cartoon character. But there is more to this record than fatback funk. There is the haunting, harmonically sophisticated "Tell Me a Bedtime Story" (which ought to become a jazz standard), and the similarly relaxed "Jessica." The sextet on hand is a star-studded bunch, with Joe Henderson in funky and free moods on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Buster Williams on bass, and Albert "Tootie" Heath on drums. Only Williams would remain for Hancock's 1977 electric V.S.O.P.: The Quintet album to come. In addition, trumpeter Joe Newman, saxophonist Joe Farrell, guitarist Eric Gale, and drummer Bernard Purdie make guest appearances on two tracks.

Recorded February 1972
Pacific Recording Studios, San Mateo
Moog and mellotron at
Different Fur Trading Company, San Francisco
Herbie Hancock - acoustic piano, electric piano, Mellotron, percussion
Eddie Henderson - trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion
Billy Hart - drums, percussion
Julian Priester - bass, tenor and alto trombones; percussion
Buster Williams - electric bass, string bass, percussion
Bennie Maupin - soprano saxophone, alto flute, bass clarinet, piccolo, percussion
With:
Patrick Gleeson - Moog synthesizer
Victor Pantoja - congas
Voices - Candy Love, Sandra Stevens, Della Horne, Victoria Domagalski, Scott Breach

Herbie Hancock于1940年4月12日出生于芝加哥的一个音乐之家。
Hancock七岁开始学习钢琴,两年以后就开始他的第一次公开演出.高中和大学时期他在一些半专业的乐团中演奏,偶尔有机会为一些造访的爵士乐手伴奏,其中就有Donald Byrd.1961年,Hancock第一次在纽约演出就是和Donald Byrd合作,后来自己建乐团时也和Donald Byrd合作过. 他声名鹊起获得广泛承认的是他加入Miles Davis的五重奏以后.他与Miles共同呆了五年多,在与Davis合作的后期,乐队开始演奏Jazz-rock的风格,Hancock对这种风格十分适应,1968年他自己组了一个六重奏追求自己的演奏观念.他们演奏Hancock原创的作品,乐队成为70年代早期最受欢迎和最具影响力Jazz-Rock乐队. 从1969年开始,Hancock广泛使用电钢琴和其他电子乐器,包括合成器.1973年迫于经济压力Hancock将他的乐队削减为四重奏,其中包括特色乐手Bennie Maupin.新乐队的风格还是Fusion,但这次更多偏向于Jazz-Funk.Hancock四重奏的首张专辑Head Hunters被刚萌芽的Disco乐界广泛接受而且赢得巨大的销量.整个七十年代其余的时间，Hancock的音乐始终关注于这个领域.期间他也制作了数张传统爵士专辑,其中有与Chick Corea一起的以及他自己乐队V.S.O.P。
Hancock在音乐中展现了一种影响深远的创造性,为流行唱片工业设立了一个标准.音乐在形式上是理性的产物,但其内容却是无法缺少热情的, V.S.O.P.乐队的作品一向以其完整性、强烈的情绪和原创性著称.尽管Hancock最初的兴趣在传统爵士上,但他非常有技巧地将其音乐的探索推向其他的领域,创作出一组激动人心的作品。

1992 digitally remastered edition of one of the best regarded of all the keyboard wizard's solo albums.

2009 two CD compilation. Steely Dan have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and helped define the soundtrack of the '70s with hits including 'F.M.,' 'Reelin' In The Years,' 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number,' 'Peg,' and 'Hey Nineteen' (amongst others), culled from their seven platinum albums issued between 1972 and 1980. They reunited in the early '90s and have toured throughout the decade and beyond, releasing multi-Grammy winner Two Against Nature in 2000 and its acclaimed follow-up Everything Must Go in 2003. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Features 33 tracks. Universal.

FREDDIE HUBBARD,trumpet
GEORGE COLEMAN,tenor sax
HERBIE HANCOCK,piano
RON CARTER,bass
TONY WILLIAMS,drums

Reissue of the 1996 compilation 'Midnight Lover' with a new title & a bonus track, 'Third World Girl'. The remaining original 13 tracks consist of live versions from 1983 of many of the late great soul vocalist's best, including 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine', 'Let's Get It On', 'What's Going On', 'Inner City Blues', 'Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing' and 'Sexual Healing'. Recorded in concert in Indianapolis, IN.