From Slum Village to k.d. lang, and good stops in between. There are many 2019 electro-soul favorites here sprinkled with vintage pop classics and jazz-based film soundtrack music before closing out with a bit of twang. Eden (LES) from If Beale Street Could Talk soundtrack – Nicholas Britell || As We Come (To Be) – Young Disciples || Lovestained – Hope Tala || Jealousy (Instrumental) – Slum Village || Living in Denial – Michael Kiwanuka || Abre Las Manos – Devendra Banhart || Stay High – Brittan...
Dec 26, 2019•58 min
In this episode, we skip across multiple genres, still designed to allow you to ease into your day. The saxaphone solo from 'Do The Right Thing' soundtrack beckons you before Alice Smith (who I saw give an amazing performance recently at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood) draws you in with 'The One.' She's followed by this dope recrafting of Paul Simon's 'Can't Run, But' with a chamber orchestra. There's plenty of new school artists from 2018 in the mix -- Nick Hakim, Phony Ppl, Carrie Cleveland, Kell...
Nov 08, 2018•57 min
In this session, we have a some cuts that I might call ‘Slo Get Up Hall of Fame’ songs (like John Coltrane’s “Naima” or “La Vie En Rose” by Grace Jones) that were slo get ups for me before I started using that phrase. And alongside those classics are some very fresh gems from 2017-18 including the just released “Forever Always” by Peter Cottontale, “Me&My” by Andre 3000 and “Beginning of the End” by Black Opera with LA’s Georgia Anne Muldrow. Also proud of unearthing a digital file of the co...
Jul 18, 2018•1 hr 1 min
If there’s ever been a year that we wish for a new day, 2017 is probably at the top. We're not chopping cotton, but yet, we are. Ya know? So, here’s a little something to make everyday a fresh one to wake up to, slowly. More new great emerging artists – like SZA – are here alongside classics by the legendary Neil Young and the truly obscure but precious work of Italian Lucio Aracri. Kilo Kash and Sean Leon are serving up some nice electro-soul plates that I just can’t get enough of these days an...
Dec 10, 2017•59 min
Posted nearly two years after the last Slo Get Up, this is a double-length version at nearly two hours. To say the least, I was a little busy but always gathering this track or that along the way, putting choice items in my digital rucksack. And here they are. There’s a mix of soulful salves and simmering sizzles in this podcast. We start with Cuba’s Dayme Arocena and her beautifully layered acapella building towards the timeless and now politically timely ‘Compared to What?’ by Roberta Flack. N...
Feb 04, 2017•1 hr 58 min
In this series, I ground the playlist with a variety of gems from 2014. Starting with Moses Sumney, who seemed to punctuate my listening adventures all year long from his time at Red Bull Music Academy to a residency at the Bootleg Theater to a collab with Miguel Atwood Ferguson at the Blue Whale by end of year. He had to start this. He's then followed by a stream of great artists like Zara MacFarlane, D'Angelo, Fatima, SBTRKT, Kele and more. Unlike most Slo Get Ups, things get smashed off on th...
Jan 14, 2015•54 min
This was originally done in haste as a party mix for a friend but I started to dig it for my work out purposes. Yes, I am the type of dude that tries to match up my treadmill pace with BPMs. Anyway, we've got old and new here from Justin Timberlake to Mandrake to M.I.A to Big Boi to Ludacris, Jet, Black Keys, Beck, A Tribe Called Quest and one of my fave underground hip hop tracks of all time "Come Get With It" by Basic Vocab. Astute DJs will pick up some "sneaker in the dryer" moments and other...
Apr 13, 2014•1 hr 2 min
Starting off with an acoustic spiritualized medley (track from the film 'Babel' + gospel-oriented jaimeo brown and contact field orchestra), we move into Bill Withers' 'Grandma's Hands.' from there its a journey that includes Quadron with Kendrick Lamar, jazz vocalist Gregory Porter, and some bossa by Lalo Schifrin from way back. Later a Vampire Weekend track actually sets off an electro-soul arc of Kelela, The Internet, Jamiroquai and Toro Y Moi as Oddisee closes with one of my fave tracks from...
Jan 19, 2014•59 min
This podcast is inspired by an event I produced one time called Sookie Sookie Sunday under the guise of Madame Zenobia Presents in DC. It was Labor Day Weekend. We were searching for a vibe that had a southern soul sensibility but was a little gritty/greasy and still felt fresh. The event went well but we always wanted more for the music. We couldn’t find that sweet spot comingling old school R&B, certain types of authentic blues, organ grooves, and then new stuff that paid homage to those s...
Apr 26, 2013•1 hr 1 min
Could say I've carefully collected this one for a while as the majority of tracks are all connected with Butterflies specifically. Many genres -- jazz, neo soul, dance -- but were all part of my library, gently landing in it over the years. Bookended by two classics -- Jimi Hendrix with "Little Wings" and Herbie Hancock's jazz opus "Butterfly", what's in between is Michael Jackson, Corinne Bailey Rae, Swing Out Sister, Jamiroquai, Digable Planets, Towa Tei, Big Brooklyn Red, Abbey Lincoln and mo...
Mar 30, 2013•1 hr 1 min
On this Slo Get Up, the basic format remains but it is all about the new. Or the relatively new, in comparison to other Slo Get Up podcasts. Most tracks here are from 2012 and even a handful from 2013. That’s keeping it extra fresh! And so many artists that I am so excited about right now. Who bring me delight every morning. There’s a cozy one from Nia Andrews called “The Lovers”. A gruff, yet melodic, almost Burt Bacharach-ish gem from Cody Chestnutt called “Chips Down”. The infectious “Treat M...
Feb 24, 2013•1 hr 6 min
Two of my favorite tracks from 2012 are included on this installment,both from up-and-comers. One is from a soulfully eclectic northern Australian band called Hiatus Kaiyote (yes, thats how they spell it) called "Nakamarra". The other is the slow extended hip-hop opus "Sing About Me" by Compton's Kendrick Lamar, a young cat who single-handedly restored my faith in hip-hop this year as a place where creative, contemplative lyrics almost in a blues fashion can coexist alongside club bumping and gr...
Dec 02, 2012•1 hr 2 min
On this one, two very different versions of “God Bless the Child” are put on each end and multi-genre points are plotted in between, but things are still kept slow and easy. There’s an underplayed, inspirational track by The Gap Band, the almost operatic, ethereal to boom-bip electronica of DJ Shadow and I have to admit having fun moving from the country-blues “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time” to the infectious pop-soul of TLC’s “Diggin’ on You”. And the remix of Shirley Bassey’s “Easy Thing to Do”...
Oct 28, 2012•1 hr 1 min
Here, we take the Slo Get Up format but put it primarily through a strict Hip-Hop lens. That was the challenge, so to speak. There's low-bpm progressive hip-hop to instrumental covers of noted hip-hop songs (like the 2nd track by Miguel Atwood Ferguson + Carlos Nino, a beautiful orchestral interpretation of A Tribe Called Quest's "Find a Way"). Lineup includes known quantities like Common, Beastie Boys, Mos Def, and Robert Glasper as well as the slightly more obscure and sometimes forgotten lazy...
Oct 06, 2012•1 hr 2 min
In many ways, I've been working on this podcast for years. I've always been a big fan of not just doing a cover song, but taking it, twisting it, distilling it, deconstructing it sometimes, for a totally different experience and newfound appreciation. I hope this collection delivers in that regard. There are some interesting tributes here be it smoky jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson's interpretation of a song by The Monkees, a hip-hop meets bossanova treatment of Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave You...
Apr 22, 2012•59 min
This is a follow-up to the successful PopWork USA/Rebuild the Dream collabo project featuring songs of struggle and beats that let you can get your march or rally on properly. This volume includes suggestions by online listeners and participants on the Rebuild the Dream website. From Steve Earle to the Temptations, Black Flag to Phil Ochs, M.IA. to N.E.R.D (see full playlist at www.popwork.org). For those of you with original songs or recent songs inspired by OWS, send in those MP3s. One special...
Nov 25, 2011•1 hr 2 min
Presented for our partners in crime at PopWork USA in conjunction with Rebuild the Dream as an offering to the 99% who need a beat when they march or lyric to speak to their struggle or hopes. Including a custom mash-up featuring noted economist Noam Chomsky and Pharrell, plus diverse acts from Aloe Blacc to Tom Morello to Chemical Brothers and even a rare track or two by pop stars about greed, this is a natural for PopWork's mission of talking about the importance of pop culture to amplify work...
Oct 23, 2011•1 hr 1 min
When Roshin and I got married September 17, a key element in the ceremony was a special mix to set the tone for the day lovingly laced together and handspun by DJ Jahsonic. He got to the essence of each track in quick fashion. Here, we let them linger on their own so attendees and other lovers can enjoy them to the fullest. Like all else on this website, we maintain an eclectic standard, jumping from Lenny Kravitz to Melody Gardot to Towa Tei, Platinum Pied Pipers, Cee-Lo, Little Dragon and clas...
Sep 28, 2011•56 min
Starting with an acoustic remix of A Tribe Called Quest track, we follow with Glen Campbell, then a banjo-totin' Cee-Lo, before Spearhead slows down one of its own, a prior Disposable Heroes track, and British hip-hop soulstress of yore Neneh Cherry, plaintively calls out to the day. And like travelling through dimensions, rather than making hard turns, Japanese popster fashionistas Pizzicato Five lay out a groove as The Style Council, LTJ Bukem, Natalie Cole and more follow suit. Perhaps the mo...
Jul 16, 2011•55 min
There's a little Bossa Nova in all of us as evidenced in this set. While this is not Brazilian explicitly, hence the name "Bossaesque", all of the artists clearly have been influenced by that magical place in the construction of these songs. And it also shows the dexterity of bossa nova rhythms, its common instruments, and references. Basia, Cassandra Wilson, Beck, Platinum Pied Pipers, India.Arie, Quincy Jones, Arto Lindsay, Vinx, Everything But the Girl, and more give a wink-wink and a hip swa...
Jul 13, 2011•58 min
Refresh yourself with this eclectic ode to water for summer. From the opening lines declaring 'I am the ocean...' by Mia Doi Todd, Swedish post-jazz stars Koop beckon us to go "Beyond the Sun" before Electric Wire Hustle helps us plunge into "Waters." Gang Starr, Danger Mouse, John Frusciante, Nina Simone, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Otis Redding, J Boogie's Dubtronic Science and more go into the aquatic world as well, each in their own way with this podcast before Osulade closes it out. This is a spe...
Jun 28, 2011•56 min
This is the first in a series designed for easing into a weekend morning when you want a little music, a little bounce but not so overwhelming you can't enjoy a cup of coffee, read the Sunday paper, or still keep laying in bed. We start with a wonderful track by violinist Miguel Atwood Ferguson (he, of the "Suite for Ma Dukes" J Dilla tribute fame) and then move on with gospel by Aretha Franklin, Bebel Gilberto, Sweetback, Ben Harper and a Herbie Hancock/Tina Turner collabo on a Joni Mitchell so...
Jun 26, 2011•1 hr 1 min
In this installment, we give a slight nod to Paris by bookending the podcast with Charlie Parker's "April in Paris" and Grace Jones "La Vie En Rose". In between a multitude of gentle urgings for you to amble out of bed, gaze out the window, and contemplate the newness that is Spring. The inspirational soul bohemian vocals of Georgia Anne Muldrow, Sweden's Little Dragon, Louis Armstrong & Oliver Nelson with jazz classics, the wonderful Amel Larrieux, and Yoshinori Sunahara(with a bossa-electr...
Jun 13, 2011•57 min
On this installment we start with the lovely Esperanza Spaulding doing her take on a centuries old poem by William Blake and then...Towa Tei puts a Bossanova twist on a Hall & Oates classic. Others in the lineup to wakeup include Bill Withers, Dionne Farris, afro-harpist Dorothy Ashby, Massive Attack, Matsi, Steely Dan, Jamie Cullum, a rare treat jazzy instrumental from The Beastie Boys, Al Jarreau and my man from many a gig off U Street in Washington, DC, W. Ellington Felton among others. H...
May 28, 2011•59 min
