(English Translation to follow)
Cro-Magnon-Jin
cro-magnonとDJ JINによるファンク愛に満ちたプロジェクトがついに本格始動!
Jazzy Sport発のコンピ『POUND FOR POUND Vol.3』（2013年）で初めて公にその姿を現し、荒々しいオルガン・ファンク“QP Funk”を棍棒よろしくフルスウィングで叩き付けて衝撃を与えたのが、3ピース・バンドのcro-magnonとRHYMESTERのDJ JINが手を組んだCro-Magnon-Jin。その時限りの特別ユニットかと思いきや、猿人たちのプリミティヴな衝動はついにアルバム『The New Discovery』として結実した。ワウ・ギターが暴れまくる表題曲を皮切りに全編生演奏のインストで貫かれた楽曲群は、いずれもヴィンテージ機材で録音されたロウでまろやかな質感が70sのレア・グルーヴっぽくもあり、エレピとギターが幻想的に絡み合う“Sunset Over The Nile”にはブラック・ジャズ作品に通じるスピリチュアルな趣も。ディープ・ファンク的な熱さに加え、ロニー・フォスターあたりを引き合いに出したいジャジーなメロウネスも備えた、時代を超える名品ですぞ!
[English Translation]
Cro-Magnon-Jin
Cro-Magnon and DJ Jin fully begin project with their love of funk.
Written by: Hajime Kitano
Three-piece band Cro-Magnon and DJ Jin, member of hip-hop trio RHYMESTER, made their first appearance as Cro-Magnon-Jin (meaning Cro-Magnon man) in “Pound For Pound Vol.3,” a 2013 compilation from the Jazzy Sport imprint that offered the fierce organ funk of “QP Funk” with bludgeon-like brutal blows. Against all expectations, however, these apes didn’t just leave it at a one-off novelty project, and their primitive impulse culminates in a full-fledged album, “The New Discovery”. It sets off with the title track, a wah-wah guitar rage, to a fully live instrumental journey. All recorded with vintage gear, the raw yet gentle timbre evokes 70’s rare groove. There’s a sense of spirituality akin to Black Jazz Records in “Sunset Over The Nile,” an otherworldly jam of electric piano and guitar. With the heat of deep funk and a jazzy mellowness that resembles the likes of Ronnie Foster, this is a masterpiece that surely stands the test of time.
