'Home Cooking' by DJ Yoda

'Home Cooking' is the brand new album from the world renowned hip-hop DJ and producer, Duncan "DJ Yoda" Beiny.  Famed for his extensive catalogue of music including his initial 'How to Cut & Paste' mix series, to his revered live performances as a festival and club headliner around the world, the numerous accolades and awards accumulated over the years to his legend-like status as a true pioneer in his field.

Released through London's independent label, Lewis Recordings, 'Home Cooking' represents a huge creative step forward in Yoda's musical evolution.  Much like Guru opted to veer away from sampling jazz records (most famously as a part of the hip-hop collective, Gangstarr, with DJ Premier) and actively collaborate with musicians including Donald Byrd, Ronny Jordan and Roy Ayers in 1993 with the first of his beloved 'Jazzmatazz' series of albums, Yoda too directs his focus on live instrumentation and incredible array of soul/R&B artists to bring his vision towards reality.

Had Guru still been around today and decided to set-up camp in London for a possible 'Jazzmatazz, Volume 5', then he couldn't have been any prouder than with the exciting and dynamic line-up of collaborators assemled by Yoda for this project.  'Home Cooking' pulls from some of the UK's finest, from the legendary Omar ('Thornton Heath') to some of the excellent, rising talent currently making their own waves: Andrew Ashong, Eva Lazarus and Joel Culpepper.  'Abbey Road' marks another notable highlight for the album and a stunning showcase of UK jazz talent as Yoda is paired with saxophonist Nubya Garcia (Maisha), tuba player Theon Cross (Sons of Kemet) and keyboardist Henry Wu (aka Kamaal Williams of Yussef Kamaal).  Hip-hop is still represented throughout with long-time collaborators the Jungle Brothers appearing on 'Afrika' and 'Hither Green' along with Boston rapper Ed OG appearing on 'Roxbury'.

Just as 'Jazzmatazz' was Guru's logical next step, 'Home Cooking' is DJ Yoda's.  Creatively, Yoda has pushed forward, carving his own path with an eclectic musical gumbo that we can only hope will spawn the beginning of its own series of releases.