AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Us3

Artist:Us3

Song:Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

Album:Hand on the Torch

Cantaloop was a top ten hit in 1992. The 1992 album Hand on the Torch was on Blue Note Records and sampled from the Blue Note catalog. Obviously this was not the first time hip hop sampled jazz. But it was the first time a jazz label was behind it. Us3 is led by British producer Geoff Wilkinson. As NW1 he released the 1991 single The Band Played the Boogie on Ninja Tune. This sampled Grant Green's Sookie Sookie which was on Blue Note. After the record got local radio airplay, Wilkinson was summoned to EMI's London office. They were going to sue him for using an unauthorized sample. Instead he was granted the rights to the Blue Note catalog as long as the album was on Blue Note. Wilkinson and partner Mel Simpson called themselves Us3 after a Horace Parlan album. The single Cantaloop reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Of course the record is based on Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island. The voice at the start of the song is Pee Wee Marquette introducing Art Blakey from A Night at Birdland. They also sample Lou Donaldson's Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky. The rap is by Rahsaan Kelly. It was his only major appearance. The trumpet solo is by Gerard Prescencer. He was in Charlie Watts' band. The album Hand on the Torch was certified Platinum. Simpson left and Wilkinson recorded the 1997 album Broadway & 52nd. Wilkinson left Blue Note after management changes at parent company Capitol. At first he signed with Sony. But he never recorded there and the 2001 album An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place was released on Universal's EmArcy label. Since then Wilkinson has released albums on his own label, most recently in 2013. Here's the video for Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us3.