--=[ Koop ]=--

Koop - Koop Islands [2006]

Koop islands is a magnificent CD. It is more jazzy than their first offering which is fine by me. There are several standouts on this recording such as "Wherever there is you", "I see a different you" and "Let's Elope". The other songs are good as well, but those three are classics. Another amazing album from what might just be the best nu jazz band out there. Koop continues to make music with a personality, because they bring in live vocals and write entire lyrics instead of sampling a line or two. While I don't normally like Ane Brun, her vocals on the intro are very fitting to the music. And Earl Zinger's voice is as sexy and deep as ever.















Koop - Waltz for Koop [2002]

Koop comes from a universe where Miles Davis never made Bitches Brew, replacing swing with funk, and instead double basses kept walking and jazz kept swinging all the way until the sampler arrived to chop it up. Not electronic music with a touch of jazz, but jazz sparingly laced with electronics. Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson, both from Sweden's main university-town Uppsala, now residing in Stockholm, were the first two jazzheads in their hometown to lose interest in the perpetual Hammond organ-licking of Jimmy Smith. Instead, they embarked together down the more rewarding paths of Hard-bop and raw Latin beats, avoiding fusion's tendency to dilute the original spirit of jazz.Koop combines a wealth of summery melodies and floating vocals with the acid jazz of Gilles Peterson and the laid-back trip-hop aesthetic of Jazzanova and Peter Kruder. The result is a sweet, effortless sound on Waltz For Koop. Starting off with a Brazilian feel, Koop enlists Astrud Gilberto-like chanteuses Cecilia Stalin and Yukimi Nagano to augment the mood, while later, electronic trickster-legend Earl Zinger shows up for a decadent "Modal Mile." The record takes an otherworldly turn with the presence of Chicago folk-jazz artist Terry Callier, as his wistful, spiritual pipes give "In a Heartbeat" a depth that eludes most DJs, who go for electronic lounge and end up with elevator music. Good-natured and accessible without being trendy, Waltz puts a lot of other "chill" collections to shame.


All track info is in the comment section..