Outside Daily

And I don't have the answers, 
For those questions anymore.

I've grown old on this ocean, 
Gave her all, my stronger years. 
Gave my wife my devotion, 
When she died, the ocean my tears.

Lyrics and music by The Beautiful Girls

Following Keith Jarrett's "Köln Concert" sermon, you leave the church. It's a beautiful sunday morning, it's fall, cold and misty. Yet sunny.  "Coffee first", you say, and enter the next deli.

The guy at the door behind the warm-held curtain is Miles. He's the Keeper. He checks you in with Blues By Five, a cold reception, followed by a warm welcome: "Welcome to New York" says Billie Holiday dressed as a waitress waiting impatiently to take your order, "it's so nice here in autumn." 

After you eat, you take off.  Busy streets, canyons of steel. Dexter the bike-messenger, is your man. You and Dexter fly through Broadway. What an energy.  After a while, you think it's time to cool down.

You go to a small bar and buy a drink. Stan Getz comes in and tells you a long, long story. It's all Misty and sad, but with a nice happy end. 

We really don't wanna sleep midday in bar, do we? 

You leave the place and take a cab. Monk is the New York cab driver, Blues Five Spot his taxi. First you think, this guy is an idiot, he can drive nowhere. And then you start gliding through Manhattan's tiny streets, not getting stuck in any traffic. That creep can roll, man. Monk knows every single corner, how tiny, how concealed, no matter. You're ashamed of yourself, of your thoughts. This guy is fucking genius! 

Enjoying the ride, you open the window. It's Harlem's Manhattan. Stories. Streets. Steam. People walking, crossing the streets, cars. It's busy. Jarrett's From The Body kicks in. All the different flavors, the variety, the different restaurants, kitchens, languages, plates, dishes and yes, espresso, the smell of coffee. It's a world of its own!

Enter coffee shop. You lay yourself on a comfy couch and stare the ceiling. Warm drink. It's Herbie Mann whistling into your ear. You're almost asleep, but the wake up call comes in.

Here he is, your butler James with the white-gold 1930's phone in his hand, "It's Mr Coltrane again, sir, uhmm, I think it is the issue with The Inch Worm. He says, you'd know. And, oh: "Sir, he's insisting." He makes a phone sign with his hand, to point out that you have to take this call, as if you would ever want to make a single gesture, not to think of an action, in against taking Mr Coltrane's call. Where in earth could that be?

Irritated, shaking your head, you then gladly answer the call. Once again with deep pleasure. How nice it was to hear his voice. "Yes, yes, ta dii, tara daa, tara di da.. yes" I think you know all the words. 

It's late. You take Oscar's Night Train to the city. The every-now-and-then stopping and slowly-slowly rolling train.

You count the seconds.. The Night starts..

Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, Picture by Peter Ellenby - © 2006

As an avid Jazz listener who sucks everything from Coltrane to Rollins, from Monk to Miles, I love, apart from maybe Pop and most def Techno, many genres of music, which surely includes trip hop, electronica, turntablism, and hip hop to some extend.

Interestingly enough, there has been a great deal of outstanding hip hop DJ's in the last few years who took this hip jazz extract to a whole new level: DJ Shadow, Zion I, RJD2, Cut Chemist, Dr Octagon to mention some of my personal favorites. 

But lately I am getting increasingly into the hip tunes of this guy, Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, a Japanese American from San Francisco, especially after I heard the NBA 2K7 video game soundtrack. The energy is amazing, so are the beats, and most surprisingly, the clear, crisp sound. Here is what dvoodoo [last.fm] says about him:

[...]

From San Francisco, his early 1990’s debut 12” “Music To Be Murdered By” that sampled Hitchcock and was released as “The Automator” earned him radio play and a serious street rep. Nakamura became a major figure in the somewhat higher-brow rap underground that developed while mainstream hip-hop integrated its successful gangsta image with the also-popular Miami Bass party-jam style, with heavy borrowing from its ignored soul music roots. Avenues of rap which pursued more introspective, creative, and esoteric angles became brushed aside, admired by fans with more eclectic musical tastes and appreciation for dense lyrical constructions and obscure or off-beat musical inspirations.

[read more]

Trained in classical violin as a child, Nakamura was more attracted to early electronica and hip-hop. After dabbling as a DJ, he gave up on the violin and instead worked on musical production, taking on small gigs until getting his major break working with Kool Keith. Dan has recently created tracks for an Adidas advertisement campaign and started yet another band with Mike Patton called Crudo.

As Mos Def & Anwar Superstar put it: Dan The Automator, the creator with flavor! - Most def!