Jazz and hip-hop have a peanut butter and jelly relationship: they go great together. From Digable Planets to The Roots, jazzed up rap has become a favorite among hip-hop and rock fans alike. Jason Kibler, a.k.a. DJ Logic has carved out his niche by doing the opposite: rapping up jazz. Emerging on Medeski, Martin and Wood’s Combustication, Logic’s avant-turntablism instantly breathed some hip-hop swagger into the relatively straight-laced fusion scene. On subsequent solo albums Project Logic and The Anomaly, the many contributions from jazz and rock artists became a crucial part of Logic’s craft, as almost every track involved a guest artist. Zen of Logic, Logic’s long-awaited third album is out this month and sees some old friends return (Charlie Hunter, John Medeski) new faces (Antibalas), and a few solo tracks laid in between.
Over the past three years alone, DJ Logic has played on tours with Jack Johnson/Ben Harper, Maroon 5 and John Mayer, in between booking gigs at the Blue Note and fulfilling remix request from groups such as Soulive, The Weather Report, Olu Dara and Phish. Logic is currently working on remixes for labels such as Savoy, Sony and Verve and for artists such as Nina Simone, Red Norvo and The Brazilian Girls. Logic’s summer plans include touring with Christian McBride & Jurassic 5 and then heading out solo. Glide had a chance to speak with DJ Logic just prior to his first solo release in four long years.
How were you introduced to DJing and jazz, did you discover both at the same time?
I was introduced to DJing first. Growing up in the Bronx, I listened to a lot of hip hop like “Rapper’s Delight.” I would also go to house parties or community centers throughout the city to see my favorite DJs, like Afrika Bambaattaa, spin. I was also into break dancing then, and I thought all the beats they were throwing down were cool. The interaction with the crowd and everybody dancing made me want to be a part of the whole DJ thing. That
Christmas, I actually had my parents buy me some equipment, I didn’t want anything else besides turntables – no games, no nothing (laughs). I was 15 or 16, going home and putting a mix tape together was my after school activity. I would bring those tapes down the block and let my friends listen, and I’d also exchange mixes with other DJs to keep up my game. That was a good way for me to learn, it made me completely comfortable in what I was doing and made me do it right. I’d also try to find those certain records I heard at parties, like James Brown, Bob James or whatever else they were spinning. Those were the records that made hip hop what it was, and I was proud to discover that.
As far as the jazz thing, I was actually introduced to alternative rockf irst. I had a musician friend who was a drummer in an alternative rock bandcalled Eye and I. My friend was also a hip hop head and played with a lot of hip hop guys. He thought it would be cool if I came down and played with them, you know, to try something different. The only time I had never seen anybody mixing hip hop and rock before was when DXT and Herbie Hancock got together for “Rockit,” and I always thought the video for that was cool. So I said what the heck and tried out for the band. We did a couple of shows at CBGB, and that was the first time I had been downtown. The whole rock club thing was a thrill, but the other musicians embracing me and trying to figure out what I was doing was like my schooling in DJing. Being in Eye and I eventually led to me playing with Jazz musicians like MMW and Vernon Reid, and I met up with those guys at the Knitting Factory. This was way back in the early days of the Knitting Factory, and that’s how I got my jazz knowledge. I learned the finer points of improvisation then; how to work with all the musicians and what roles they had and learning my own role like those guys and trying to find the right colors that represent me, like passing a ball around, you know? It was a different experience than what I had with alternative rock because, with jazz, you had a lot of purists and people who were stuck up where I was more open – I didn’t have the usual guitar or keyboard, it was just vinyl and wax. The musicians I was playing with knew that I had an ear for things which, being so young, I didn’t really know I had. I was just really trying to emulate them.
What is the story behind “9th Ward Blues” on Zen of Logic?
That track is dedicated to the people affected by Katrina in New Orleans. I recorded that song with Charlie Hunter, at first we didn’t have a name for it. Me and Charlie were sitting down and talking about music and just messing around when he came to me and said “I want to try something different.” I said “sure,” because I’m all about taking musicians out of their element and trying something out of the ordinary. So he wrote something right then and there on guitar and bass that had an organic bluesy feel. So I laid down a beat that hit all these colors and elements, parts that used a harmonica and spoken word parts. Once I went back to it during editing with Scott Harding, it just came to me to call it “9th Ward Blues.” Looking at the TV and the news with pictures of the aftermath just seemed like what blues music is to me – those people were going through the blues. And at that moment I felt like that song was something special.
You mentioned Scott Harding, how did you meet up with him?
I’ve known of him since his work with Prince Paul and Wu Tang, and I was always a big fan of his. I first met him when I did a record for Vernon Reid, Scotty Hard did the engineering for it. We established a nice relationship with each other then. He’s a great guy and I admired his mixing skills and connection to the scene. We worked together again with MMW, and he brought the best out of me. So I had him produce my first album because I
was so comfortable working with him in the studio. It’s always good to have an extra ear because I’m always trying to adjust myself, and he’s that person to direct me and keep me in line. He adds a little bit of extra logic to the logic recipe, Scotty Hard. (laughs)
What spurred your decision to do another solo record? Did you feel it was time?
Yeah, I felt that it was time. I sort of wanted to take a break because I was touring a lot with Project Logic, we did a crazy tour in the US, Europe and South America. I was very happy with how many people came out to see me and heard about Project Logic. I mostly wanted to catch up on my production: I’m running new software and it was necessary to stay up on things. I put myself in a little shell after the tour by working on my own production and also working on projects with other musicians that I always wanted to collaborate with, a lot of which found its way on Zen of Logic. So I just took it easy after the tour and I ended up putting enough together for another album.
Do you play any instruments besides turntables on Zen of Logic?
I play a little bit of keyboards. I’m not a virtuoso or anything, but just with the knowledge of playing with so many musicians I’ve developed a good ear. I know how to get basic sounds that I want out of it, but if there’s something I can’t do, I’ll go get somebody else to do it for me (laughs). There actually aren’t too many samples on Zen, a lot of the stuff is collaborations from those guests. I actually brought in a guy from Morocco to play the lute on a couple of tracks. I’m a huge fan of instrumentation, especially when it brings a unique flavor; and this added a middle eastern flavor to what I was doing. I have a lot of instrumentation like that on Zen.
Do you write your music before you bring in collaborators, or do you just let things play out?
Both. In the pre-production process, I’ll sit down with Scotty Hard and flesh things out before we bring the musicians in. Then when we bring the musicians in, we’ll sometimes do something on our own – like with Charlie Hunter on “9th Ward Blues. “That also happened on another track called “Hypnotic with Subconscious.”He came in, wrote the rap and put the chorus together and that was that. And then other times, like with Afrobeat, I would mostly try to play on top of whatever they were doing even though Scotty Hard came up with the main horn melody and I had a couple of beats to go along with it beforehand. So it’s definitely a little bit of both. With a band like Afrobeat, even when I program a beat beforehand, they’ll come in with something and it’ll be like “wow, that’s great!”
Do you find it more difficult to work with MC’s like Subconscious than working with instrumentalists?
Sometimes, I think. I mean, a lot of rappers have a certain vibe that helps in completing the whole track and some rappers don’t. Rappers either have it or are just “verse, chorus” and this and that. But with Subconscious, we worked together beforehand and he’s a great person to collaborate with. We can joke around and come up with ideas easily, and his vocabulary skills are awesome which really lends itself to writing music. But I always like to work with MC’s beforehand just to get their whole vibe, and if it works, it works.
What does “Zen of Logic” actually mean to you?
I’m a big fan of Asian Culture and meditation. Before I started the record, I had to get into my Zen moment. I looked around for a little studio where I could set up shop and put ideas down for my record. I found this little place in Manhattan. It was a little box with no windows or no nothing, but it had a good vibe and I was comfortable being there. I gave it my own feel, I put only earth tone colors in there – nothing dark – and also all my records and equipment. All that together made me feel I was in my Zen moment. I could just sit in the place and focus on music. And that to me is my Zen moment; I kept repeating in my head “Zen of Logic, Zen of Logic,” after the Anomaly and Project Logic, I thought that chant fit in well with the whole sequence. I think everybody has that in them. Before people start playing or creating, they get into that moment and it makes itself part of the music.
