Mushroom Jazz 3

Mushroom Jazz 3

Continuing the highly popular <I>Mushroom Jazz</I> series, Mark Farina goes for late-night purple velvet and downtempo 2 a.m. atmospheres on this third installment, resulting in an electronic release for lounge lizards the world over. A basic hip-hop loop is the canvas throughout this 19-track mix, and on it Farina paints a series of smooth, sometimes shady but always sassy portraits that result in a thoroughly credible, electronically glazed slow-jam record. Opening with the wholly seductive cruise control of "California Sauce" by King Kooba, Farina goes on to introduce the silky-smooth, French lounge of Raw Instinct's "De la Bass," the late-night Manhattan flavors of Herb Alpert's "Flirtation," and the warm Philadelphia evening breeze of Slide Five's "Streamline." In deftly fusing jazz and hip-hop with downtempo beats, Farina has produced a mix that works for thoughtful driving, romantic evenings, and hip soirées. <I>--Steffan Chirazi</I>