***"Man alive. Galt MacDermot. You know who he is. And if you don’t, you’d better ask somebody. Most famous (probably, in certain circles anyway) as the composer and arranger of the 1969 Grammy-award winning, perennially-running-somewhere musical Hair, which had three no. 1 singles including 'Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In'. But his catalog is so much more than that. SO much more. He’s incomparable. He composed music for a grip of films and plays, but my favorite is his solo work. (well, with bands he’d put together, but you know what I mean). His body of work includes jazz, soul, and classical and some of it is downright FUNKY. He’s been sampled by Handsome Boy Modeling School, MF Doom, Run-DMC, DJ Vadim, DJ Premier, Busta Rhymes, and who knows who else. He’s worked with Bernard Purdie, Idris Mohammed, Jimmy Lewis, and countless others. Nothing I can write can do him any justice.
This record here has two different versions of one of my favorites—'Duffer' and 'Duffer in F.' Are they the same song? Yes. Are they different? Yes. Side A, 'Duffer,' is a laid-back, loosey-goosey irresistible groove with killer solos. It’s so chill, but I’ll be damned if you don’t still want to dance to it—maybe even a slowdance with your sweetie or something. It’s a whole vibe—cozy, funky, slow, intimate, yet spacious… I never want it to end. Side B, 'Duffer in F', is the same tune, but with everything tightened up. The groove, the drum kit, heck, even the room it was recorded in.
I can not for the life of me decide which one I like more, but for real though, I want them both on 7”, and thought it would be fun to do a compare/contrast record: The Duffers.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE BASSLINE ON BOTH VERSIONS THOUGH?? Whoooooo boy.
Special, special shout out to The MacDermot family (Vince, MaryAnne, Samson and young Galt) for letting me do this. It’s a dream come true."—Devin
Limited run of 500 copies.
