Various: Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note and Blue Note Trip

By GRAHAM REID

Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note (Herald rating: * * *)

Blue Note Trip (Herald rating: * *)

Since Us3 successfully took classic Blue Note jazz tracks and reconstructed them for hip 90s clubbers (Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island became the DJ favourite Cantaloop) it's been gloves-off and hands-on in the once dusty jazz corners of record companies' vaults.

The first of these two conceptions has remixes by Madlib, and some Blue Note classics reinterpreted by (mostly) the Morgan Adams Quintet who also contribute an original in homage, the pumping and exciting Funky Blue Note.

It's sad to hear old-time musicians read the scripted shout-outs to Madlib between some tracks, there's an irritating stereo-panning of the "worthy" spoken-word stuff, and some of the mixes are unexceptional. But when it hits a groove (Song for my Father by Sound Direction particularly) it seems to justify Blue Note giving him the key to the kingdom.

Blue Note Trip is a double disc - unimaginatively themed as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - and ill-named turntablist Maestro (subject of the cloying, hagiographic liner notes) weaves tracks together. Some are familiar, like St Germain's Rose Rouge, some unusual, like Buddy Rich's Beat Goes On, sung in a deliciously uncommitted way by the drummer's 12-year-old daughter. It comes out much like a compilation you might have done at home actually, if you had access to the catalogue.

Either way, DJs will enjoy hearing the blends, beats and authentic jazz; clublanders will have this delivered at them whether they want it or not; and Blue Note aficionados young and old will just play the originals.

Label: EMI