As part of the Philly scene, Medina has been connected with many artists and styles over the years and, as the title suggests, this album ‘links’ hip hop, jazz, house, spoken word and soul with a full 15 tracks over 71 minutes.

We know him on Fly from Yukihiro Fukutomi’s track ‘Equality’ and the exclusive track on the HVW8 compilation, but he’s worked with them ‘all’. Jill Scott, Lady Alma, Ursula Rucker, Saul Williams, King Britt and even Theo Parrish.

Parrish’s influence is clear on ‘Chocklit Ninja’, which is just one of the ‘dots’ to be connected. What surprised me was how soulful the album is. ‘Happiness’ (Michelle Shaprow), ‘Music’ (Ginelle Sumner/Jeremy James) and Holdin’ Up (Delouie Avant) are all oozing with downtempo soul; my kinda chill.

There’s also the jazz-funky-house of ‘Out Of Nothing’ featuring Ivanna Santilli, Maya Azucena and Lady Alma and rather good (if a little off-centre), ‘Can’t Hold Back’. And soulful? Check ‘Too Much’ with San Franciscan Martin Luther, who has worked with The Roots.

For those looking for instrumental in the style of Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson goes Afro-house, ‘Emancipation Suite’ should satisfy your very specialist needs.

So where’s the poetry?

The album opens with ‘Delirium’, which is spoken word over an acoustic jazz bass solo. Even though it was recorded in 1997, it’s sounding as relevant today as any Gil Scott-Heron recording. This one could have easily fitted into the Worldwide poetry special but there was very strong competition for that (see link below).

‘Blues Baby’ is a track that joins the poet, hip-hop (Jneiro Jarel) and soul, like ‘Official’ (Jon Doe). ‘B Boys To Men’ and ‘Stop Smoking’ continues the message but the best is ‘Weight’. With a political message “surrounding race, money and class”, in this mood, Medina is like a Billy Bragg of the clubscene; spreading the word of change and hope.

He said in Straight No Chaser last year, before the album was released, “I want to record more with artists from different musical disciplines and styles, become a respected mix engineer and get back to more spoken word performances in small venues too.” Connecting The Dots is a good start and the offers will be coming in for a follow-up.

Rich Medina - Connecting The Dots (Kindred Spirits.) Cat. No. KS014CD Release date: Jan 2006
Tracklisting:
1..Delirium (Intro) (2:16)
2. Blues Baby (3:48) Vocals - Jneiro Jarel, Backing Vocals - Ginelle Summer
3. Choklit Ninja (4:04)
4. Holdin’ Up (4:03) Vocals - Delouie Avant
5. Music (4:17) Vocals - Ginelle Summer , Jeremy James
6. Happiness (4:17)
7. Rhodesy (Interlude) (0:54)
8. Weight (6:08) Backing Vocals - Capital Peoples
9. Out Of Nothing (4:55) Vocals - Alma Horton , Ivana Santilli , Maya Azucena
10. Official (4:14) Featuring - John Doe
11. Bitter Old Men (2:15)
12. B Boys To Men (2:12)
13. Can’t Hold Back (3:21) Vocals - Sy Smith
14. Too Much (4:56) Vocals - Martin Luther
15. Listen (Interlude) (0:41)
16. Emancipation Suite (4:56) Flute & Keyboards - Damon Bennett, Percussion - Juan Carlos Izaguirre, Vocals - Justine Masters , Siji
17. Stop Smoking (1:45)
18. Dedication (2:13)

Links:
www.richmedina.com
Straight No Chaser – www.straightnochaser.co.uk: Summer 2005 Philly’s Spin Doctor
Gilles Peterson : Tracklisting 19th March 2006 : Worldwide Poetics Special
Gilles Peterson : Tracklisting 06/11/05 : (4) Rich Medina Feat Sy Smith – ‘I Can’t Hold Back’ (Kindred Spirits)