As always, peace and respect to my man Velanche. It’s been a while since I posted anything on the Urban Landscapes site, so glad to see it constantly moving forward week after week. I thought you guys might wanna hear my latest show of vinyl madness. Show number 60 is available now to download on to your iPod/mp3 player, just go to my site and follow instructions.

I know that Velanche will dig the sounds on No.60, you’ll hear R-A-R-E jazz, funk and soul vinyl stretching across the globe from South Africa, France, USA, India, Israel, UK, Japan… and a few S-E-C-R-E-T tracks too… It’s a tight show, enjoy

PEACE “V”, you take care…Raggy

UPDATE - 29 October 2008: Alex from Soundcloud wanted me to let peeps know that Soundcloud is now available to the public. This is a correction from what I’ve originally written that new users needed an invite.

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The music industry, under the model it’s been using for many decades, is fighting for its survival amidst a wave of defections from consumers tired of feeling treated like children.

A new model has yet to reign, but a number of them are out there vying for the attention of not only the consumer, but for independent artists and labels as well. Digital media is allowing anyone to create music and put it out there for the world to listen. Still, the artist will only be known to maybe a few of their friends unless they know a way to get them noticed to a wider audience.

Tunecore is a relatively new service that helps the independent artist out in a big; the service is a virtual “middleman” between the artist and the online music stores. Whereas an artist has to visit each online store to get his or her music ready to be sold, Tunecore will get the music onto multiple online stores at once. There’s a lot more to Tunecore besides being a one-stop digital distribution center, including assistance with artist promotion, among other things. The MP3 Insider, a CNET podcast about digital players and music, has done a special episode interviewing Jeff Price, the founder of Tunecore. He explains how the service works in a way that’s easy to grasp. People in independent music, as well as aspiring musicians, should have a listen to an informative and enlightening discussion with host Donald Bell.

Another online service that’s making waves is Soundcloud, which has launched its site this month after a private beta period. It’s hard to believe that many of the artists played on the radio show are also members of Soundcloud (some of them are even part of the company). It’s an online community and service where artists can post their tunes online for others to listen to. If you’re tired of using YouSendIt, Mediafire, or similar services that have restrictions and limits, Soundcloud allows tunes to be uploaded with no size limits and can be as permanent as you want it to be. The free service allows five song uploads a month, while three tiers of Pro plans offer anywhere from 15-50 tunes/month.

You can visit one of the members to listen to available tunes and leave comments.

View the video to learn below more about Soundcloud. Membership is now available. As for Tunecore, there is no video. But feel free to browse through its “tour” page.

So check out these services; hope they become useful for you!

When I was in Miami in March 2007, I had the pleasure to meet a true goddess in Monica Pineda, who goes by the moniker of DJ Moni. She is part of the lovely DJ crew based in NYC known as Ubiquita. She’s been getting her own thing going during the last few years, with her profile elevated through her association with both Giant Step and Gilles Peterson among others. She’s been touring her skillz globally, and has put out a compilation for Scion A/V.

Along with creative partner Mike Vargas, Moni has started Friends We Love, a video series showcasing creative luminaries great and small, as they share their love and passion of their respective works of art and culture through their words.

Here are a sampling of what Friends We Love showcases…

The first one profiles DJ/tastemaker extraordinaire Gilles Peterson chatting about his obsession with football (that’s soccer for us stateside peeps).

The next is of Brand New Heavies vocalist N’Dea Davenport about a serious medical condition affecting women.

Finally, here’s the very first Friends We Love video featuring DJ Bobbito.

There isn’t much to bring me out from my self-imposed time off from the radio show, but this weekend brings about one way of me doing so.

The word is still spreading that vocalist, musician and producer Isaac Hayes has died today at the relatively young age of 65. He was still active in music, and it’s a irony that he was found unconscious next to a running treadmill.

This week, I’ll present a special edition of Urban Landscapes on Isaac Hayes; mostly his music, but also some tidbits on his extraordinary career. Please join me, or find the podcast shortly thereafter.

I’ll leave you with two versions of his groundbreaking classic “Theme From Shaft.” Enjoy, and rest in peace Isaac.

The first version is a live recording back in 1973. I don’t have any info on where this recording took place, so let me know if you do.

The last one is a special version of the theme, as conducted by Hayes during the Conan O’Brien Show just last year.

Far Out Recordings has just released the new album from Sabrina Malheiros called “New Morning.” I will have an interview with her that will be posted soon…I’ll let you know where because it may not be here.

In the meantime, enjoy this video featuring words and music from Sabrina, and also words from her father Alex of Azymuth.

It’s a pleasure to find that everything old is new again. Jazz is as strong as ever, showing no signs of backing down and staying underground. But like colors of the rainbow, there are different shades of jazz. There are the jazz vocalists of today who are keeping the flames alive, with Cecilia Stalin, Elizabeth Shepherd, and Bajka just to name a few.

Among this new generation of jazz vocalists is Jose James. With his roots steep in hip-hop, the music has had him discover the sound of jazz. Developing his vocal skills over time, he eventually landed in the prestigious jazz program at The New School in New York. He’s since moved on to learn and work with other jazz talents, and was eventually discovered by BBC Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson. Signing on to Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings label, the response from James’ music being played on Peterson’s Worldwide radio show was massive. In January 2008, James’ full-length debut album The Dreamer was released to global critical acclaim.

Even before the album’s release, James has been keeping extremely busy. When not performing on his home turf, he’s been keeping a frantic traveling schedule that’s taken him around the globe, all the while finding time to collaborate with other heavy-hitters in the underground music scene.

Jose James was generous enough to take some time out for some conversation. It took awhile for us to get it right, but the time is now. I’m pleased to present to you some blurbs with one of the most talked-about jazz vocalists in quite some time…

Velanche: You were originally a hip-hop head. What steered you into the jazz world?

Jose James: Just hearing it in samples probably first - all that great 90’s hip-hop like A Tribe Called Kwest, Digable Planets, The Pharcyde… all that - but then I just started listening to real jazz on the radio and boom I was into it.

V: Explain your experiences at the New School in New York, and why you’ve decided to leave it to venture on your own.

Jose James: The New School Jazz program has a great lineup of educators - Junior Mance,
Chico Hamilton (one of the school’s founders), Charles Tolliver, Bernard “Pretty” Purdy. I had private lessons with Janet Lawson. But the price factor is huge, [plus] between owning a home and] getting a jazz degree, it’s an easy choice - but it’s still the spot to meet and collaborate with the finest international pool of student jazz musicians and vocalists in the world. When it was time to make a record, it was an easy decision to do music full time.

V: What’s the story behind your being found by Gilles Peterson, then subsequently getting signed onto his Brownswood Recordings label?

Jose James: I was in London doing a vocal jazz competition and had just produced an EP in NY, so I was making the rounds and passing it off. One copy got to Gilles, who was working @ Cargo, and he contacted me about my track “The Dreamer” for Brownswood Bubblers Vol. 1; I was down. We had some conversations about my Coltrane stuff [and] he wanted to make an album - the rest is history.

V: The Dreamer is quite the jazz album. Can you share your experiences of making the album, the pre-release hype it generated, and your feelings once it was released to the public?

Jose James: This album is literally 2 years of my life - the passion and learning [and] expression of my experience. I think it has all the wisdom I’ve earned in it and it was literally my world. I said if I never make another album, let me make this one correctly with no compromise, and that’s what it is. Gilles and I really went deep on it; it’s pure music and just real. We just hoped people would understand it and the response has been tremendous!

Of course, there were funny things along the way; I had recorded all this Coltrane stuff which is up on my “b-sides” page on Myspace and we ended up not securing the rights to use the songs from the estate. So I had to write new work which was a blessing in disguise and some deep stuff on the album: “Desire,” “Winterwind” and “Velvet.”

I’m blessed that worldwide, the music is helping people through their everyday - it’s a “life album” as in music you can live with in your life that will grow with you.

V: You’ve been performing in your hometown of New York, but you’ve also ventured and performed overseas. What’s been the audience reaction, and what it is that you take away with each city that you visit?

Jose James: Every city and show has a different vibe. I think overseas, it’s a little more special because it’s more rare and people feel that whereas I live in NY and hit at least once a month. But music is universal, and you really see that - no matter where we are people respond to emotion, rhythm and sound in the same way; we’re all the same. I love to connect, and to feel I have friends all over the world, and that I belong to the world.

V: Videos of you and your performances have been circulating over YouTube. Does it feel any different when you get people’s reaction online than it does when you’re receiving accolades in person?

Jose James: Not really, as we’re in the digital world now and it’s a blessing to connect to people so far away through technology. I enjoy meeting people live too, but it’s all connected.

V: One of your upcoming projects is with members of the Japanese jazz group Soil and Pimp. Can you explain what that project is about?

Jose James: It’s actually with the trio project within that group called J.A.M. They asked me to collaborate on a track “Jazzy Joint,” which turned out real cool; it’s only available in [Japan], currently. I had the chance to hit with them in Tokyo and it was dope! They are some of the finest new generation jazz musicians in Japan.

V: What are your future projects that people should be looking forward to?

Jose James: New tracks with Nicola Conte, Jazzanova, Flying Lotus, Bassment Jaxx and Ben Westbeech. Word.

Jose James’ album The Dreamer is out now on Brownswood Recordings. Find more information and music on his Myspace site.

UPDATE - 11 June 2008: The peeps at Belgium’s On-Point has done a video interview with Jose James during his visit there. You’ve read it here, now see its take on JJ.