Jazz

New Orleans birthed jazz in the early 1900s when African American musicians combined blues, ragtime, and improvisation into something completely new. The genre kept transforming. Bebop arrived with Charlie Parker's breakneck virtuosity. Miles Davis cooled things down, then heated them back up with fusion. John Coltrane pushed modal explorations into spiritual territory. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers kept hard bop alive while labels like Blue Note documented everything.

Hip-hop producers heard something in these recordings that went beyond nostalgia. Jazz samples carried the imperfections and swing of real musicians locked in together, breathing the same air. A Tribe Called Quest built their sound around Lou Donaldson and Roy Ayers flips. Gang Starr's DJ Premier dug into obscure hard bop sessions, finding drum breaks and horn stabs nobody else noticed. Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, and Madlib turned samples from jazz recordings into entire production philosophies.

Jazz and hip-hop share DNA. Both value improvisation, both came from Black communities responding to their moment, and both use repetition as a foundation for creativity. When hip-hop started sampling jazz heavily in the late 80s, it wasn't appropriation. It was a continuation.

Our catalog includes bebop sessions with brushed drums, modal experiments from the 60s, fusion records where Fender Rhodes met funk grooves, and spiritual jazz from artists who deserved wider recognition. Many tracks offer stems, giving you isolated horns, piano, bass, or drums to reconstruct however you need. Whether you're chasing boom-bap authenticity or building something forward-thinking, these master recordings hold textures that royalty-free packs can't replicate. Real musicians, real studios, real history waiting to be flipped.