Shades Of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note
2003, Blue Note Records
Not too long ago, what must have been a dream came true for Madlib. He was given access to the vaults of the prestigious Blue Note jazz label, to decades of recordings with permission to sample them and craft something new and unique for his new album. Now that’s quite a bit to entrust to someone, even a producer as acclaimed as Madlib, so who can blame Blue Note if they were a bit, shall we say, concerned? So sprinkled throughout Shades Of Blue are numerous phonecalls from people associated with the Blue Note label (Melvin Sparks, Reuben Williams, Leon Spencer) inquiring about the album’s progress, expressing interest as to how, exactly, Madlib would be reworking their music.
More than likely, the calls were just out of sheer professional curiosity. However, if the callers’ intent was to check up on Madlib, to ensure that he didn’t do anything sacreligious to the Blue Note legacy, then they probably breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing the finished product.
Madlib does nothing to screw with Blue Note’s recordings. Nothing whatsoever. Shades Of Blue is a very safe and careful album, reverent even (more than one of the songs espouses the importance of Blue Note to the world of jazz—i.e. “Blue Note Interlude”). Perhaps too reverent, as is indicated by the amount of namedropping. (We got it, Madlib—you worked with famous musicians. Enough already!)
But all of the reverence in the world can’t make Shades Of Blue an interesting album. Sure, the album’s overall relaxed tone implies that it’d be perfect background music for swank chill-out sessions. I’m sure there are plenty of hipsters out there who will dig Shades Of Blue for one of their next parties, where everyone lounges around the posh digs, drinking mixed drinks and carrying on conversations until the wee hours of the morning. But as I listened to it closely, I was surprised at how blase it was.
Shades Of Blue is smooth, no doubt about that. So smooth, in fact, that it barely leaves any impression on its way down.