in love: moodymann

I was reminded today, while listening to Thomas Brinkmann’s Soul Center records, just how much I love Moodymann. Unconventional, uncompromising and unbelievably awesome, Kenny Dixon, Jr. is probably my favorite producer from Detroit.

Yancey’s favorite album of his is Black Mahogani (a fact I didn’t realize until he mentioned it in an earlier 17 Dots post). And I hate to be Mr. Me Too about it, but yeah! Black Mahogani collects some of Dixon’s best work, most notably the classic “Shades of Jae” and some new material (at the time, that is), and mixes it altogether in a free-flowing continuous mix that works better than almost any DJ set recorded to tape that I’ve ever heard.

The key with Black Mahogani is that Dixon isn’t afraid of going beatless to set a mood (”Riley’s Song”) or tease the listener mercilessly before finally dropping a beat (the aforementioned “Shades of Jae”). In fact, it’s rare that Dixon actually plays it completely straight – “Runaway,” which may just be its most normal house track, sounds like it’s set in a smoky cabaret club and peters out after eight minutes, only to reveal what sounds like smooth jazz (?). If it weren’t in the context of this album, I’d have to say I’d definitely think twice before claiming it as a favorite anything of mine. But here I am. Doing that. Sheesh. Go ahead and try it out (and be sure to grab its intro, “I Need You So Much”) – I guarantee you’ll find yourself playing a little bit of Air Saxophone yourself before long…