BWB Remix Contest

First Place Winner:

 

Second Place Winner:

 

Third Place Winner:

 

Prizes

ACID PRO 4.0.
Vegas 4.0.
Three Loops for ACID Loop libraries.
Merchandise from WB Jazz.

About the Contest

ACIDplanet has had a recent run of successful WB Jazz remixes. Initially, we were a bit hesitant putting these together. Jazz revolves around improvisation; remixing allows for little or no such spontaneity. Mix these two worlds together - who knows what you'll get?

Great music is what we got. ACIDplanet remixers took the original tracks into new, fresh territories.

Loop craftsman extraordinaire Mark Siegenthaler continues to have a field day creating loops from the original session tapes. A jazzman himself, Mark has to be physically dragged away from his console once he starts digging into the reels. True to form, he found a wealth of material from BWB. The loop count for this event is again higher than average. Dig in.

We're offering "Brown Sugar" from Groovin'. A D'Angelo-penned track, BWB deliver a moody, atmospheric blues flavored take on the song, featuring Whalum doubling with Braun's flugelhorn on the main melody, while Brown's snappy lines carry the bridge.

Just as Pierson envisioned when he set out to bring this incredible trio together to jam, BWB's Groovin' truly captures the vibe and spirit of classic improvisational soul-jazz. "The best part was just hanging with these guys, seeing what we could come up with," says Whalum. Braun agrees: "Matt Pierson's vision was what this was all about. He had this incredible idea and our job was to just go in there in support of his vision and materialize what he pictured. We had a great time, doing mostly live takes with very little overdubbing, and we're all looking forward to more."

About the Artist

Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum and Norman Brown comprise BWB; three artists who define today's contemporary jazz sound, but maintain a collective love for the old school. Each infuses his solo projects with a mix of classic R&B and soul-jazz influences, and reinterpret contemporary pop songs in a fresh, free-wheeling way. It all comes together on their latest WB Jazz release, Groovin'.

If Braun, Whalum, and Brown jamming together isn't enough for you, toss in bassist Christian McBride, drummer Gregory Hutchinson, and keyboardist Ricky Peterson and you've got a jazz stew boiling over with top-notch players.

As longtime standard bearers of the smooth jazz sound, Braun, Whalum and Brown have all mixed and matched with each other before. Braun appears on "Night Drive" on Brown's new Just Chillin' album. Braun and Whalum jammed together at the Warner Jazz all-star 1999 concert at Montreux that was recorded for the double Casino Lights '99 disc, and also joined forces on one of the famed annual Guitars & Saxes tours in the late 90's. Pierson, the producer of the project who oversaw the choice of material, the arrangements and helmed the four days of live sessions and week of overdubbing, fancied the idea of taking these three talents and finding ways to exhibit their deeper, jazz-steeped artistry apart from the usual commercial considerations of their solo projects.

"There's a particular process involved in making a smooth jazz record and it's something of a controlled setting," says Pierson. "Live, however, each of these guys really transcends those trappings and has a blast interacting with their rhythm section. They're more aggressive, they solo more. Individually, they're the best. As a guitarist, Norman is the George Benson and Wes Montgomery of his generation, Kirk is the most influential saxman of his generation and Rick, with his background in straight ahead jazz, brings an authentic, classic jazz trumpet vibe to the smooth jazz world. I thought, wouldn't it be fun to give them an environment where they could just blow, improvise, challenge themselves, have a good time and really dig into who they are as musicians as opposed to simply commercial recording artists? I liken BWB to the 'Wes Montgomery Plays the Beatles,' great players having fun doing beloved tunes with new, funky arrangements."