Even though you’ve never learn Frank Herbert’s Dune, chances are you’ll smartly have encountered its adaptations to a variety of other media: comic books, video video games, board video games, television collection, and naturally movies, David Lynch’s 1984 version and Denis Villeneuve’s two-parter earlier this decade. However sooner than any of the ones got here Dune, the jazz-funk album via keyboardist and bandchief David Matthews. Launched in 1977 at the popular jazz label CTI Information, it devotes its complete first facet to a 20-minute suite ostensibly impressed via Herbert’s novel, consisting of the items “Arrakis,” “Sandworms,” “Tune of the Bene Gesserit,” and “Muad’dib.”
You’ll understand that the typography at the cover of Matthews’ Dune turns out terriblely reminiscent of Famous person Wars, a movie that had pop out the exact same 12 months. It’s now not actually false advertising, because the album closes with versions of each Famous person Wars’ major theme and Princess Leia’s theme, supplemented via the theme from Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running or even David Bowie’s “House Abnormality.” According to jazz historian Doug Payne, the concept used to be the speculation of CTI founder Creed Taylor.
Taylor had originally employed Matthews as CTI’s leader arranger, the latter’s years of experience as James Brown’s musical director having promised the potential to imbue the label’s releases with disco attraction. In addition to Matthews at the keyforums, Dune additionally features heavy-hitting session players from the late-seventies jazz international like Randy Brecker, Steve Gadd, Grover Washington, Jr., Hiram Bullock, and David Sanborn. Lovers of obscurantist hip-hop might also recognize Matthews’ “House Abnormality” cover as a sample supply for MF DOOM’s “Rapp Snitch Knishes.”
Just like Bob James, his fellow masterthoughts of disco-inflected jazz, Matthews has created a frame of labor that lives on a hip-hop goldmine: his other samplers come with Approach Guy, Pinkguy, and The Notorious B.I.G. However it used to be in Japan that he discovered his maximum enthusiastic listenersend. After leaving CTI in 1978, Payne writes, “Matthews went onto document a slew of information for manyly Japanese labels beneath a variety of guises including Japan’s number one promoteing jazz crew, the Guyhattan Jazz Quintet.” When you visit Japan, chances are you’ll smartly pay attention Matthews’ tune playing in an area jazz bar.
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Primarily based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and hugecasts on towns, language, and culture. His tasks come with the Substack newsletter Books on Towns and the guide The Statemuch less Town: a Stroll thru Twenty first-Century Los Angeles. Follow him at the social webpaintings formerly referred to as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
