You don't have to be a jazz elitist to be suspicious of a collection of soul standards reinterpreted by a self-taught drummer/loop digger. But in the case of the official release of the Madlib-helmed Yesterday's New Quintet's fabled Stevie: An Instrumental Tribute to Stevie Wonder, no such trepidation is necessary.
The Stevie story goes: Madlib forms fictitious group, recreates classic sounds, deems it unsuitable for release, tosses it in as a promo to love-starved journalists. Journalists get addicted and play it at parties, record gets heavily bootlegged, Madlib rethinks decision, re-sequences and remasters record, adds a song, and puts it up for sale. But are the additions and alterations worth the price of admission? Undeniably, yes.
The remastered cuts pop louder and with more presence than the ones on the promo, but some of the mixing could have better emphasized certain elements-- particularly in the case of the keyboards, which are too deep in the mix. In a few cases, I also would've preferred louder drum work from Madlib. This is not to say that the sound is disappointing. On this record-- which blends the live explosiveness of jazz with hip-hop's spirit of inventiveness-- the music works as both background ambience and the forefront of any party.
Madlib selected a relatively upbeat group of Wonder tracks, and focuses more on a constant low end and meandering grooves rather than the sound collages more associated with his hip-hop production. From the throbbing Cuban bounce and addictive synth keys of "Visions" to the understated bass groove and swift snare hits of "Rocket Love Pt. 1", Yesterday's New Quintet reconstructs tracks from several periods of Wonder's career without losing continuity or wandering beyond a song's parameters. I definitely would've enjoyed Madlib's take on some of my personal favorites ("Living for the City", "Big Brother', "I Was Made to Love Her") but this is clearly a project with an agenda, however loose it may seem.
And yes, the new song ("This Girl") is good. It has a rugged bass loop and clapping snare that's falls closer to Jay Dee than Quincy Jones, while its light synth flourishes pleasantly accompany the ever-present keys on a sequence that's both guttural in tone and displays mesmerizing technique.
Still, the record isn't bulletproof: The song choice could've been more varied across Wonder's catalog, the instruments emphasized in its mix could've been selected a little more appropriately, and the album could stand to be a little longer. But all things considered, Stevie not only reinforces YNQ's commercial clout within the independent music scene, but it's also another strong 2004 release from the Stones Throw camp.
