Song You Need to Know: Scorpeze and Cordell Johnson, Jazzgalaktik
New house track from the two producers builds on the legacy of Roy Ayers and Larry Heard
Elias Leight, provided by
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Scorpeze and Cordell Johnson’s “Jazzgalaktik” starts with a pair of tributes. A brief, descending squeak, as if a machine is powering down, evokes the opening of turn-of-the-century club-fillers like Spiller’s “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love),” while a grandly wobbling synthesizer nods to Mr. Fingers’ “Qwazars.” This is house music homage, and also a sign that the producers are ready to take a big swing.
Around 70 seconds, after the Mr. Fingers-esque effect fades away, thick chords from an electric keyboard flop into the track, answered by a hammering run on a piano. These instruments continue to skirmish for most of the remaining six minutes of “Jazzgalaktik,” flirting and fighting as the rhythm section, full of hand percussion and vamping bass, sails be