Sample Cutting-Edge Sounds & Textures by Six Jazz Mavericks on We Jazz Records

What does the art of sampling mean to you, and to We Jazz as a label?

Matti Nives (co-founder of We Jazz): It means quite a lot! I personally came to jazz via hip-hop, so samples have been the key to unlocking this vast universe of great music. I think it's great that the originators are respected, especially if the track that uses samples is making money. But especially when going outside of the business world, I think sampling is a way to make music eternal in a whole new way. The originals live on and find new ground through sampling. Do I sometimes pay way too much for records just because there's a Madlib sample somewhere on there? Hell yeah!!!

The liner notes of Y-OTIS mention, "it's as if the music is sampling itself, constantly keeping ahead of the curve in the musical lineage of jazz." Can you please elaborate on this?

Some of the productions, for instance, seem like they're creating their own sample library with live musicians and then repurposing what was on tape. It's a very "post-everything" way of doing production and Petter Eldh is the master. Teppo Mäkynen is another one. There's stuff that sounds like it's blurring the lines between samples and original material. Then it all becomes one, of course. In this, it's all original: the music is sampling itself.

"Tremendoce" is a good example. Check the flute loop. Some might think it's a way to tip their hat to the Beastie Boys (who sampled Jeremy Steig on "Sure Shot") and I think it is.

A group like Koma Saxo at times almost sounds like it was made for sampling: crazy basslines, the breaks, the isolated elements… all the ingredients are there. Since you were involved in this project as an executive producer, can you please tell us a bit about what sampling means to the group?

Petter Eldh and I were actually just talking about that the other day: how sometimes the best sample comes from a source that would not enter the realm of listening in any other way. There's just a little something in there; a microcosm of sound. I think something to be said about this is also how honored people like Petter are whenever someone is sampling their music. We're always checking everything out and sharing links when that happens—as it has thanks to Tracklib!

What are some of your personal favorite We Jazz artists on Tracklib, from a sampling perspective?

Well, you can't beat some of those Stance Brothers breaks. There's even a drums version in there—just go with it! It's like a perfect pass, you just need to tap it in. As in Finnish ice hockey lingo: "Just keep your stick to the ice and get your name in the newspaper." Of course, if you want to go hard, maybe get something from a group like Superposition, just trying to catch a lightning bolt in a bottle.

How do you think Tracklib can change the way people sample?

I hope people can look at the ideas to sample in a new way and get properly weird with it. If you listen to the best in the game—the Dilla's and the Madlib's and the Premier's—it's all about innovation. That's what I would say. I hope Tracklib makes producers find new stuff and get weird with it.