Broadway & 52nd

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Broadway & 52nd
Studio album by Us3
Released April 8, 1997
Genre jazz / hip-hop
Label Blue Note
Producer Geoff Wilkinson and Jim Hawkins
Professional reviews
Us3 chronology
Hand On The Torch
(1993)		 Broadway & 52nd
(1997)		 An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place
(2001)

Broadway & 52nd was the second album by jazz-rap group Us3. Us3 continued mixing live musicians with samples and hip hop lyrics to form a very well put together album that will make you bop your head to the rhythm. While not as well-accepted as their debut album Hand on the Torch, it was a more mature approach to jazz-rap, up to par with Guru's Jazzmatazz. After the huge success of their first album, the president of Blue Note records, allowed the trio to dig deep into Blue Note's vault and do whatever they wanted to do with Blue Note's material.

Broadway & 52nd has a more dark, conscious mood to it. Track 9, "Sheep" is a good example: It talks about a young man who is not interested in being down with the herd.

The album title comes from the street in the middle of the theater district in New York City. It also used to be the center of bebop in New York City, with infamous night clubs, when bebop was in its heyday.

[edit] Tracks

  1. "Intro" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Powell/V De Moraes)
  2. "Come on Everybody (Get down)" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armstead/J McLean)
  3. "Caught Up in a Struggle" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/M Vialva)
  4. "True to the Game" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armstead)
  5. "Snakes" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armstead)
  6. "I'm Thinking About Your Body" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/M Vialva/B McFerrin)
  7. "Grand Groove" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armsteads)
  8. "Nowadays" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armstead)
  9. "Sheep" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/M Vialva)
  10. "Doin' a Crime" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/M Vialva)
  11. "Recognise and Realise" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armstead/M Vialva)
  12. "Time and Space" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/M Vialva/C Jordan)
  13. "Soul Brother" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins/B Armstead)
  14. "Hymn for Her" (G Wilkinson/J Hawkins)