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Saturday 21 May 2011

McJazz

I am not a great one for jazz. I am not a great one for the bagpipes either. Put them together, on the other hand, and it is an entirely different mater. Ladies and gentlemen, we present the extraordinary Rufus Harley.

"Sufur" - Rufus Harley (from "Scotch & Soul", 1967)

"Gods And Goddesses" - Rufus Harley (from "Re-Creation of the Gods", 1972)

Rufus wasn't Scottish in the conventional sense, being a half-Cherokee half-African American born in North Carolina, but then they are not all Rob Roy, you know. He sadly died five years ago, and his obituary makes for quite a read.

The cultural exchange worked both ways of course. Check out the guitar stylings on this, and the top jazz beard on the man on the right.



But the best example of cross-cultural collaboration is something I discovered earlier today and can't stop listening to. It is a completely inspired mash-up (as I believe the young people say) of 50 Cent's "In The Club" and Jimmy Shand's classic "Bluebell Polka". Approach with caution - you won't be able to get it out of your head.

"50 Bluebells" - Faither Of E-Jitz

And here is the video.

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