Moon Rappin'＜限定盤＞

1960年代を通じて自身のソウル・ジャズ・バンドを率い、すでに定評のある多作なオルガニスト、ブラザー・ジャック・マクダフは1969年にブルーノートに移籍し、レーベル・デビュー作『Down Home Style』を発表。本作はブルーノート第2弾として1970年に発表された彼のキャリアの中でも最もクリエイティブな意欲作のひとつ。

本作には「Flat Backin'」や「Loose Foot」といったハード・グルーヴなナンバーや、「Moon Rappin'」や「Oblighetto」といった革新的なトラックなど、ファンキーでスペースアウトしたマクダフのオリジナル5曲が収録されており、後にA Tribe Called Questがサンプリングし、ヒップホップの歴史に永久に残ることになった"Scenario" と "Check the Rhime"も収録!

【パーソネル】Brother Jack McDuff (organ) Richard Davis (electric bass) Jerry Byrd (guitar) Bill Phillips (tenor sax, flute) Joe Dukes (drums)

Moon Rappin' is one of Brother Jack McDuff's most ambitious efforts, a loose concept album that finds the organist exploring funky and spacy soundscapes. Unlike most McDuff records, there isn't a steady groove that flows throughout the record -- the album flies into atmospheric territory that isn't strictly soul-jazz, but it's far from free. In many ways, Moon Rappin' is a fairly typical album of its time, boasting wah-wah guitars, flutes, spacious reverb, long bluesy vamps, orchestras, and disembodied backing vocals, but it also stands out from the pack in how it offers some excellent improvisation (including a rare piano spotlight on the title track) and unpredictable moments, like the stuttering organ and nearly free interludes on "Made in Sweden." It's not strictly funky -- it doesn't have the grit of early Brother Jack records, nor does it swing hard -- but it proves that McDuff was as adept in adventurous territory as he was with the groove. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine