Exodus Quartet

Exodus Quartet - East Coast - 1996 - Instinct Records

Eric Hilton and Fari Ali, aka Exodus Quartet attempted to use a more publicized format to recreate the sound of jazz clubs, especially Washington, DC's Exodus acid jazz club. This album has a great jazzy, chill-out sound and grows on you after a few listens. Real cool music, and very enjoyable. Their 1996 album, Way Out There, featured many guest musicians and was released after they had appeared on several compilation records. Hilton went on to co-found Thievery Corporation.

TRACKS

1.Fly
2.Groove Gumbo
3.More, More,More
4.Oye Rene
5.Peace
6.The Heat Up

BIO

Exodus Quartet was formed in 1991 by Eric Hilton, co-founder of the legendary DC Acid Jazz party named Exodus. With his partner Farid Ali, Hilton created a night in DC that astounded all club-goers in the capitol city. With pre-Deep Dish DJ Dubfire on the turntables and Jamaican toaster Hutchy on the mic, Exodus drew large crowds of enthusiasts every Friday night. When Jan Kinkaid visited Exodus during the Brand New Heavies' first US tour he proclaimed, "I didn't think anything like this existed outside of London. Or should I say, I don't think this exists even in London." Inspired by the music and the atmosphere at Exodus, Hilton decided to make a record that would pay homage to this Exodus night. Working in Backbeat studios, Hilton formed Exodus Quartet, a loose collaboration of studio musicians that would round-out Hilton's productions. With a pre-Fishbelly Black George Michael engineering, Hilton recorded and produced four songs, "Perfect Vibe", Trance Jazz", Funk What?", and Rare and Groovy". These songs were released on vinyl EP and Hilton's career as a music producer was underway. "I've always been fixated on music and I had from time to time made my own. I had played in hard-core punk bands when I was a kid and I faithfully adhered to the 'do-it-yourself' creed that punk rock stood for and inspired," explains Hilton. When I first stumbled across the budding Acid Jazz scene in the late 80's, I was enchanted by the eclecticism of the sounds and the grassroots approach to releasing music. I still dig the current scene for the same reasons, yet now it seems even more eclectic and, in many ways, more interesting. "Way Out There", the new CD LP from Exodus Quartet, is certainly an eclectic mix of many types of music and attitudes. "I'm really happy with the freedom that Instinct gave me to do this record. I essentially explored the sounds that I'm most into - old Studio One Reggae, Southern Fired Funk, 70's cop soundtracks, Bossa Nova, Latin Jazz etc..." I wanted to make a record for myself first and hopefully other people will groove on it as well. That, in my opinion, is the only way to do it." © .2001 Instinct Records Corporation