Friday, September 18, 2009

Nuyorican Soul - "It's Alright, I Feel It"

Back in 1997 peerless NYC production and DJing duo Kenny "dope" Gonzales and "Little" Luis Vega (aka Masters at Work - also responsible for the epic Sensational Beats) put together a project with the best musicians they could lay hands on.

Nuyorican Soul the album is amazing from start to finish, but one of the standout tracks (and a massively popular dancefloor track to this day), is "It's alright, I feel it". In truth, if you want to hear it in the best possible context, you have to listen to the album, where it's preceded by another amazing track: "Black gold of the sun". The genius in this part of the album is that there is no gap between these two tracks, but a continuous segue - the brooding slow shuffling groove of Black gold of the sun sort of dissolves in a pool of piano tones from which emerges the euphoric chords of "It's alright, I feel it". The best bit is, the chords are exactly the same in both tracks - it's almost like two completely twists on the same track. It's almost the same track, except it's definitely not. Both tunes are incredible, but that junction between the two songs is a rarity in modern music, and it's one of Masters at Work's finest moments.

I can't embed it (why not? Universal Music Group says so!). But I can link to the official youtube upload.

So here is the second track in that magical sequence, in it's glorious euphoria. Get up and shake it.

It's alright - I feel it!

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