Jan 142011
Few albums have inspired as much borrowing as J Dilla’s Donuts. His grab-bag LP of 31 cuts, released in 2006 only three days before his death, has lent beats to the likes of Drake, Talib Kwali, and Ghostface Killah (three different times!). Though samples from Donuts abound, it’s not really an album that would lend itself to covers per se.
Oh really? NYU jazz trio Stray Phrases might beg to differ. This past October they covered the album in full before a tiny New York crowd. Metal Lungies just released the full recording and it is just as epic, sprawling, and off-the-wall as you would expect. A jazz tribute to Donuts? Somehow, somewhere, we think Dilla approves.
Pick up the original Donuts at Amazon.