Freedom Jazz Dance
My friend Leo has a new jazz quartet. At their debut performance a couple of weeks ago, they ended the show with a mashup of "Solar" by Miles Davis and "Freedom Jazz Dance" by Eddie Harris. "Freedom Jazz Dance" is a favorite of mine, and a lot of my fellow jazz nerds agree. People love it because it's so catchy, but it's a peculiar kind of catchy.
The tune has no chord changes, just a straight-ahead funk groove in B flat. The angular melody is mostly fourths jumping up and down by whole steps or half steps. It's tough to memorize, but then once you get it down, it can stay stuck in your head for weeks. As befits such an eccentric yet popular song, Eddie Harris was an eccentric yet popular guy.
Harris had the first gold jazz record, an arrangement of the theme from the movie Exodus. He also had a hit with Swiss Movement, led by Les McCann. Harris invented a variety of odd instruments, and in 1975 he even released a standup comedy album, The Reason Why I'm Talkin' S**t. He also subconsciously impacted my entire generation by writing a lot of the music on the Cosby Show. "Freedom Jazz Dance" has been performed and recorded many times, but Miles Davis basically owns the tune after the rendition he did on Miles Smiles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ11cArknek Here's a chart of Miles' solo. Check out how much space he leaves between phrases. Miles' version has been sampled by a few hip-hop artists. You can hear fragments of the solos throughout "I Thought Ya Knew" by Ed OG and Da Bulldogs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHfNIYs6hkA Miles' recording was also sampled by Fu-Schnickens in their Bugs-Bunny-referencing track "Creepin' Up On Ya." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpWwXWsqTAA Miles' estate has been fumbling with attempts to keep the man relevant. So they released a strange remix EP that includes a frenetic couple of minutes of snippets of "Freedom Jazz Dance" along with Miles' verbal instructions to the band from the studio outtakes, and then a quick, slightly awkward rap by Nas. It's not a totally successful experiment, but it's pointed in the right direction. It's especially amazing to hear Miles sing parts of the melody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erYTH2zTk0Q Here's a mashup of all the tracks mentioned above. <a href="https://ethanhein.bandcamp.com/album/hip-hop-musicology">Hip-Hop Musicology by Ethan Hein</a> Any recommendations for more recordings, samples or references to "Freedom Jazz Dance" that I should know about? Hit me in the comments. Update: hear the megamix in this delightful jazz/hip-hop mix on Aja and Claire Simone's Ketch a Vibe Show