Waltz for Koop

Product description Koop comes from a universe where Miles Davis never made Bitches Brew, replacing swing with funk, and instead double basses kept walking and jazz kept swinging all the way until the sampler arrived to chop it up. Not electronic music with a touch of jazz, but jazz sparingly laced with electronics. Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson, both from Sweden's main university-town Uppsala, now residing in Stockholm, were the first two jazzheads in their hometown to lose interest in the perpetual Hammond organ- licking of Jimmy Smith. Instead, they embarked together down the more rewarding paths of Hard-bop and raw Latin beats, avoiding fusion's tendency to dilute the original spirit of jazz. Waltz For Koop has been re-released by Palm Pictures with a added tracks and a bonus DVD, containing the acclaimed videos for "Summer Sun" and "Glomd," as well as two remixes, "Summer Sun" (Markus Enochson Remix) and "Relaxin' at Club Fn" (Dorfmeister vs. Madrid de los Austrias Version). Amazon.ca Koop combines a wealth of summery melodies and floating vocals with the acid jazz of Gilles Peterson and the laid-back trip-hop aesthetic of Jazzanova and Peter Kruder. The result is a sweet, effortless sound on Waltz For Koop. Starting off with a Brazilian feel, Koop enlists Astrud Gilberto-like chanteuses Cecilia Stalin and Yukimi Nagano to augment the mood, while later, electronic trickster-legend Earl Zinger shows up for a decadent "Modal Mile." The record takes an otherworldly turn with the presence of Chicago folk-jazz artist Terry Callier, as his wistful, spiritual pipes give "In a Heartbeat" a depth that eludes most DJs, who go for electronic lounge and end up with elevator music. Good-natured and accessible without being trendy, Waltz puts a lot of other "chill" collections to shame. --Matthew Cook