This week, we’re heading back to 1977, for Idris Muhammad’s Turn This Mutha Out. Despite it pushing 50 years of age, it remains an incredible, influential album, and one you will definitely have heard in the modern day, even if you haven’t quite realised it.
Muhammad was a jazz musician through and through. Born and raised in New Orleans, he was playing alongside huge names such as Art Neville by the age of 15, Fats Domino at 16, and later the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Roberta Flack, and Pharaoh Sanders, to name just a few. His sound developed with the times, moving from the traditional jazz of the 60s, to the more funk-infused RnB and soul which came with the 70s.
Our Album of the Week was Muhammad’s third release, and his defiant stamp into the sounds of funk and soul. To the commiserations of jazz diehards, (“Muhammad is another jazz artist who has succumbed to the lure of money via the disco sound,” according to the Bay State Banner), the funk-filled and synth-stacked record birthed some of the jazz drummer’s greatest hits, including title track Turn This Mutha Out and Could Heaven Ever Be Like This – more on this one later.
Production and arrangements came from David Matthews (not to be confused with the rock musician from the Dave Matthews Band, or David Matthews, jazz saxophonist who played in the swing era with the likes of Benny Goodman, Woody Herman and Stan Kenton). Matthews was a big name within the CTI and Kudu record labels. Turn This Mutha Out was released on the Kudu Records label: the soul/funk/disco-jazz subsidiary of CTI (which focussed more on traditional jazz). Rather fitting, I’d say, as Turn This Mutha Out was definitely a firm footing away from jazz, and towards the more modern soundscapes of disco, funk and soul.
And it does that job fantastically. Could Heaven Ever Be Like This, for example, is pure blissful disco, funk and soul. It’s the highlight of the record for me, and incorporates a multitude of elements to create a piece which is over 8 minutes long, but filled with synths, sax and psychedelia.
Another reason I love this track, though, is its modern day legacy in the world of dance.
I’m a big fan of the art of sampling, and have spent a lot of time waxing lyrical about artists using samples to elevate their music, so it’s nice to flip that and discuss an album which has contributed some iconic samples. Any self-respecting fan of the 21st century electronic dance music scene should be familiar with the work of Jamie xx, and in particular one his biggest songs, Loud Places, featuring The xx bandmate Romy. Jamie xx is an amazing sampler, and uses the delightful backing vocals – “I feel music in your eyes; I have never reached such heights” – from Could Heaven Ever Be Like This, in his dancefloor filler Loud Places. It’s only a short repeated snippet of 12 words, but is such an integral part of the song and it’s atmosphere. It’s not the only notable sample, too; this tune is also sampled by Jamiroquai, Crab Apple is sampled by 2Pac, and Say What by Nas.
The everlasting legacy of Turn This Mutha Out just goes to show that it was, and always will be, a fantastic album packed with funk, groove and all round excellence. In a world where producers and artists can pick an infinite array of loops, patches, and sounds to spin into their music, sometimes the old stuff still comes out on top.
Waxing Lyrical 