Alan Goldsher presents: Witch Hunt
A Tribe Called Quest did it. So did Miles Davis. And Robert Glasper. And the Roots. And Common. And Madlib. And Gang Starr. And De La Soul. And Branford Marsalis.
You can now add Alan Goldsher to the list of genre-straddlers who successfully married jazz with hip-hop. On his new single — available now to stream or download via all major digital music platforms — the former Digable Planets bassist reimagined Wayne Shorter’s Blue Note Records classic ” Witch Hunt ” as a jazz/rap rave-up.
“There have been some astounding jazz/hip-hop marriages,” Goldsher says, “but I don’t think anybody’s done it quite like this.” Getting into the jazz weeds, he elaborates, “The format of most classic bebop and hard bop tunes goes melody / individual improvisation / melody reprise . On ‘Witch Hunt,’ I replaced the improv section with a rap verse, so the tune doesn’t just blend styles, it blends form. That’s unique, and, I think, pretty cool.”
“Witch Hunt” is the bassist / keyboardist / producer’s second recorded rap performance, the first being his cover of A Tribe Called Quest’s ” Excursions ,” which can be heard on his acclaimed 2019 Gold Note Records release, Big Al Bassman Funks Up the Jazz Classics , an album that garnered almost 20,000 Spotify streams and a feature in Jazz Times magazine .
“I’m not a great rapper, by any means,” Alan admits. “I mean, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar have zero to worry about. But once in a rare while, I hear the lyrics, the syntax, and the cadence, and I have to make it happen. I have no choice.”
The single’s B-side is a drum-and-bass cover of Herbie Hancock’s ” Maiden Voyage ,” a warp-speed reboot that contrasts neatly with “Witch Hunt.”
“On ‘Witch Hunt,'” Alan says, “I played the melody with a variety of weird synth sounds. For the Hancock tune, I was loyal to the original recording, with a relatively straight reading utilizing a trumpet/sax front line.” After a laugh, he adds, “Loves me some MIDI.”
“Like ‘Witch Hunt,'” Alan continues, “I went with a traditional jazz form — head / solo / head — but with the build-from-the-bottom intro and outro and the dnb beat, it’s right in the EDM tradition.”
Alan was so happy with the results of this single that on July 1, his label will launch the Gold Note Singles Club. On the first day of each month, Gold Note will drop a new tune, because, as Goldsher explains, “My albums all have specific themes, but I write, produce, and record songs that don’t fit into those buckets. The Singles Club will get these anomalies out into the musical ecosystem.”
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