Crazy Craze Of Love (remix)

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Jill Scott – Slowly Surely (Theo Parrish Remix)
Label: Not On Label (Theo Parrish) – JSTP 1
Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Single Sided, Unofficial Release, UK, 2002

Slowly Surely is hands down my favorite song by Jill Scott, remixed here by one of Detroit's most important house producers, Theo Parrish. I already loved the original track off her first album when I heard this single-sided bootleg 12" a couple years later (2002?). Parrish made something magic here, working with an already beautiful song and building it into a deep house epic. Jittering, clicking beats give way to bass over looping sounds from the original track. (How great is that sample- Anyone know where it comes from?) Percussion, echoing handclaps, and other mysterious sounds and beats flow in and out of the mix, topped by layer upon layer of Jill's voice until a mellow soul cut becomes some kind of dense, psychedelic, dancefloor ecstacy.

My wife and I saw her live years ago. I remember us talking, amazed by her range and that she could sing with so much power in that cavernous club. No autotune or studio tricks, she's just a damn good singer. But you know, I also love my studio tricks... and Theo Parrish's rework takes full advantage of those vocals. You can hear Detroit's appreciation for techno buried in this track, but the coldness that starts it off is warmed by the end with the clatter of hand percussion, clapping and Scott's voice. The original song's lyrics are repeated and repetitive and it only adds to the way her vocals loop back onto themselves, sometimes in the lead, sometimes ghosts. Her singing melts into the mix at times, becoming another instrument in Parrish's hypnotic orchestra. He piles it on deep... then pulls back without the spirit of the original track ever getting lost.

It's a shame this never saw an official release. The voicemail from Jill to Theo tacked onto the opening gives you the basic story. "My managers really are very careful about what happens..." Whatever the details, it makes you wonder how many times words like those were behind an adventurous mix or something this special being rejected and left on the studio floor. I'm grateful this one found its way into the world and hope you enjoy it too.

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Tracklist

A Slowly Surely (Theo Parrish Remix)
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Caught up in the maze of FLAC (Download zip file):

This can't be. Slowly, surely, I walk away from MP3 (stream or download):

Comments

  1. kookooApril 5, 2022 at 7:50 AM

    Thank you. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MMApril 24, 2022 at 2:24 PM

      Very welcome. I hope you enjoyed it. I know my tastes can bounce around a bit here, so I'm never quite sure if I'm going to scratch anyone's itch with these records... Thank you!

      Delete

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