Amerigo Gazaway

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Amerigo Gazaway
Amerigo Gazaway Producer.jpg
Background information
Birth nameAmerigo Gazaway
Born (1985-11-09) November 9, 1985 (age 35)
Origin Nashville, Tennessee, U.S
Genres Mashup, [1] Hip hop, Experimental
Instruments Keyboards, Turntables, Samplers
Years active2010–present
LabelsSoul Mates
Associated acts The Pharcyde, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest
Website amerigomusic.com

Amerigo Gazaway (born November 9, 1985) is an American producer, emcee and DJ known for remixes, original instrumentals and digital sampling. [2] He is best known for his documentary style conceptual collaboration albums which have incorporated the music of A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, Fela Kuti, De La Soul, Marvin Gaye, Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def), James Brown and others. [3] In 2014, his Yasiin Bey/Marvin Gaye remix "You Are Undeniable" was used in an Apple iPad commercial. [4] and charted on Billboard's best-selling singles. [5]

Contents

Early life

Gazaway was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 9, 1985. He is the son of internationally known jazz trumpeter Gary “El Buho” (the Owl) Gazaway from the Ozarks and Brazilian vocalist Tatiana Mindlin. [6] Gazaway has said that he was influenced by radio growing up including the local WRVU radio station which introduced him to many old jazz tunes as well as hip hop.[ citation needed ] As a teen, Gazaway worked at computer shop which introduced him to programming.[ citation needed ] Gazaway senior took his son on tour when Amerigo reached 17, which further drew him to a life of music.[ citation needed ] After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University in 2011, Gazaway started 'The Soul Mates' project, a platform for his conceptual collaborations with his brother, Rickey Mindlin. [7] [8]

Career

Under 'The Soul Mates' project, Gazaway's work has been called “legally iffy” [9] and often uses more than a dozen unauthorized samples from different artist. Frequently facing legal challenges for his work, [10] Gazaway has lectured on what he describes as "overly restrictive and unconstitutionally long copyright laws." [11] at the University of Southern California [12] and a Talks at Google interview: “Redefining the Remix”. [13]

Gazaway's first full-length instrumental album, Selective Hearing Vol. 1, was released in 2010 on the Cold Busted label and charted on Beatport’s top-selling Chill-Out sales Chart.

Gazaway released his sophomore project, Fela Soul, in 2011. This was a mixture of the music of Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti and Hip-Hop group De La Soul. [14] In December of 2011, the album took top 5 ranking on both NPR and Soul Train’s year-end “Best of 2011” list. [15] [16]

One year later, Gazaway released his third album, Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to the Pharcyde. [17] Again Gazaway mixed the music of two significant music acts — this time A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde. [18] Bizarre Tribe earned early praise from the Los Angeles Times, New York (magazine), and Okayplayer. [19] [20] [21]

In 2014 Gazaway produced the album Yasiin Gaye, in which he presented an imaginary collaboration between Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def) and Marvin Gaye. [22] [23] Gaining Marvin Gaye's original multi-tracks, Gazaway was able to deconstruct and rebuild the samples to re-orchestrate the instrumentation into new arrangements. [24] The album earned Gazaway a five star review from BET [25] and praise from Marvin Gaye's widow Janis Gaye. [26]

As an emcee, Gazaway has released several singles, including "I Can't Get Off of the Facebook" in 2011. [27] [28]

Style

Gazaway's mash-up style remixes are created from a process known as “reverse-engineering,” [29] which heavily relies on a method of deconstructing and re-orchestrating original samples to bridge overlapping themes of two separate musician's catalogues. [30] The resulting product has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “drawing a different design within a similar framework.” [19]

In late 2019, Gazaway released a full album of new material with California R&B singer Xiomara called 1990. In his review of the album Dan-O from Freemusicempire said "1990 does such a great job stretching out in all the trailblazing directions the decade explored."

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References

  1. ↑ "Finding Fela Archives: The Best Fela Kuti Mashups". OkayAfrica.
  2. ↑ "Interview: Amerigo Gazaway Breathes New Life Into Your Favorite Classics". The Source. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. ↑ "Yasiin Gaye : The Return (Side Two) [Stream + Download]". Okay Player. Retrieved 18 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. ↑ "Yasiin Gaye Apple Commercial". 2 Dope Boyz. Retrieved 18 March 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. ↑ "Amerigo Gazaway re-releases Fela Soul". HipHop Gods. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  6. ↑ "[NEW MUSIC] Marvin Gaye x Mos Def = !!!". Ebony. Retrieved 18 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  7. ↑ "EVOLT Premiere: Yasiin Gaye: The Return, Side Two". Revolt. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  8. ↑ "Interview with soul mates project co-founder rickey mindlin". Stop The Breaks. October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  9. ↑ "Friday Picks & Sleepers". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  10. ↑ "Sony Issues Takedown Of Mashup Album That Did Reinterpretation Using Original (Non-Sony) Samples". TechDirt. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  11. ↑ "Amerigo Gazaway: For Love of Hip Hop". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  12. ↑ "Yasiin Gaye – "B Stands For Beef" [Soul Mates Tribute] + Bizarre Tribe Lecture Tease". Okay Player. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  13. ↑ Gazaway, Amerigo (12 February 2015). "Talks at Google: Amerigo Gazaway, Redefining the Remix" (Interview). Interviewed by Kevin Rabsatt. Mountain View, California: Google. Retrieved 3 January 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  14. ↑ "Gummy Soul Explain the Origins of "Fela Soul" 2011-9". MTV Hive. September 9, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  15. ↑ "Who Needs A Record Label? The 5 Best Bandcamp Albums Of 2011 2011-12". NPR Music. December 21, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  16. ↑ "Best Independent Soul Music of 2011 2011-12". Soul Train. December 27, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  17. ↑ "Best Mash-up Album: Gummy Soul/Amerigo Gazaway, Bizarre Tribe". Nashville Scene. By Stephen Trageser.
  18. ↑ "What If A Tribe Called Quest And The Pharcyde Did An Album? 2012-9". Urban Daily. September 16, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  19. 1 2 "Weekend mixtape: The Pharcyde collides with Tribe Called Quest 2012-9". Los Angeles Times. September 14, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  20. ↑ "Download Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to the Pharcyde, a Free, Album-Length Tribe Called Quest–Pharcyde Mashup 2012-9". Vulture. September 13, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  21. ↑ "ATCQ x Pharcyde – Bizarre Tribe: A Quest To The Pharcyde [LP Download + "Runnin" Video] 2012-9". Okayplayer. September 13, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  22. ↑ [Year in Review: Ty Segall, D'Angelo, Beck among musical faves for 2014"]. Commercial Appeal, Bob Mehr, Chris Herrington Dec 23, 2014
  23. ↑ "Marvin Gaye and Mos Def: Yasiin Gaye: The Return (Side Two)", By John Garratt 22 July 2014 PopMatters, Associate Music Editor
  24. ↑ "Carson Daly's New Music Pick: Amerigo Gazaway's Mos Def/Marvin Gaye Mashup, "Yasiin Gaye"". CBS Local. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  25. ↑ "Mixtape Review: Yasiin Bey & Marvin Gaye, Yasiin Gaye (The Departure)". BET. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  26. ↑ "Marvin Gaye's Vocal Connection". Voice Council. Retrieved 19 April 2015.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  27. ↑ "Five Rap Songs That Shout-Out Facebook 2012-5". MTV Hive. May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  28. ↑ "Top 5 Facebook Songs". Timeout Magazine. Retrieved January 27, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  29. ↑ "Peepski's Web Treats: A Quest To The Pharcyde 2012-10". Peep This. October 22, 2012. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  30. ↑ "This year in local hip-hop 2012-12". Nashville Scene. December 6, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

Bandcampgold album review by Dan-O http://freemusicempire.com/2019/11/08/bandcampgold-1990-by-amerigo-gazaway-xiomara

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