French jazz quintet, Fellas, explore the soul of the Jazz Underground this month
Earlier this year we had the honor of featuring the French quintet, Fellas after the launch of their latest EP, ‘NDONTI. This month we have the pleasure of inviting Fellas to take over the Jazz Underground playlist with ten new tracks.
The quintet is heavily influence by the Toulouse jazz and hip-hop scene. Bandleader Charlie Burg brings a lot of inspiration from his upbringing as well — trips back to Italy to see his family and the rich traditions of black American music from the raw sounds of Pharoah Sanders and Dexter Gordon, all the way through to 90s era hip hop.
For their playlist takeover, the band wanted to take the Jazz Underground somewhere new. They’ve added ten new tracks that paint a picture of a fictional character dropped into the underworld of a dangerous new city. The mix opens with Fellas new single, “Dindi.”
“Dindi Is the main character,” explains Charlie Burg when taking us through the track selection. “The song tells the story of a young man who arrives in a new city. He’s alone and delves deeper into a city that becomes increasingly crowded and dirty. We come to understand that he has arrived with bad intentions.”
“Gunshowers Soursoul” by Badbadnotgood and Ghostface Killah is the next track up and it continues to illustrate the dark world we are walking through. Then Nubya Garcia’s “Lost Kingdoms” serenades us into the middle of the mix where we here new tracks from Yussef Dayes, Alfa Mist, Mansur Brown, Rocco Palladino, Floating Points, Tom Misch and Kaidi Akinnibi. Charlie talks a bit about how the energy of the new selections take us up before tearing us down again. “‘Movement 6’ is one of the most brilliant pieces in the world. Simply powerful; Pharoah Sanders is the perfect symbol for Wabi Sabi.” Then Shabaka and the Ancestors bring us back down to earth with “Teach Me How To Be Vulnerable.” “[The track] is touching, sensitive, heartbreaking,” continues Burg.
The seventh addition to the mix gets back to Badbadnotgood with their track “Confessions.” Badbadnotgood has a big influence on Fellas, and you can hear how they take a lot of inspiration from their sound.
The last track added to the playlist is Donald Byrd’s track “Cristo Redentor.” “We discoved this track on the movie ‘A Bronx Tale,'” admits Burg. “This is the perfect Fellas original mood.”
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If this is your first time listening to the Jazz Underground, it’s a monthly feature where we enlist the musicians and producers who are pushing the boundaries of what jazz means to them. The idea is to change the perception of the music’s rotten public image — a genre that can sometimes be stuck in the past rather than something that is always evolving. Each month we invite a new resident artist to contribute and curate the playlist to reflect what jazz sounds like today.
Have a listen to the playlist below, and if you like what you hear, make sure to follow the Jazz Underground playlist on Spotify.
