Jazz Articles about Us3

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Us3: Snap, Crackle and Bop!

by Mike Raggett
October 20, 2026

Geoff Wilkinson's music first gained wider attention through production library discs, often used for projects requiring a funky hip-hop style backing. Lesser known at the time was his involvement with Blue Note Records through his group Us3, which had a smash hit with a remix and sample of Herbie Hancock's “Cantaloupe Island," released under the title “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," and selling 2.5 million copies in the '90s. After a break, Wilkinson returned to Us3 in 2025 with the instrumental album ...

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Us3: Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

by Scott Lichtman
July 27, 2024

Jazz often reinvents itself by melding established sounds and techniques with the latest forms of popular music. In the early '90s, jazz turned its ear to hip hop, and the first seminal mash-up appeared: “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" by Us3. It's a “funky, funky" tune based on Herbie Hancock's 1964 recording, “Cantaloupe Island." English group Us3 demonstrated how riff sampling, looping and rap, when combined with hard-swinging rhythm and horn sections, could yield a top 10 hit on the Billboard US ...

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Us3: The Struggle Continues

by Frederick Bernas
November 20, 2007

In 1992 Geoff Wilkinson produced the groundbreaking jazz/hip-hop crossover track “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," gaining international recognition with his Us3 project. Fourteen years and six albums down the line he's still going strong, but it could all have been very different. Here he tells AAJ contributor Frederick Bernas about the highs and lows of his long and convoluted musical journey.For a man whose achievements are so widely respected, Wilkinson comes across as a genuine, open person--not at all pretentious ...

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Us3: Questions

by James Taylor
April 23, 2005

I'm a child of the hip-hop generation, so a lot of great music, I'm not ashamed to say, came to me through hip-hop. Us3 turned me on to Herbie Hancock in the same way that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg turned me on to Parliament and DJ Shadow turned me on to David Axelrod.So imagine my excitement when I heard that Us3 was resurfacing, retooled with a new lineup behind mastermind Geoff Wilkinson, with their first stateside release ...

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Us3: Broadway & 52nd

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 1, 1997

It's hard to imagine a more hallowed jazz address than broadway & 52nd , the site of the original Birdland.

In 1993, British underground DJ turned hip-hop producer Geoff Wilkinson shook up the jazz world with Hand On The Torch, a collection of hip-hop and rap tunes based on samples from classic Blue Note recordings, not only with the label's blessing, but released by Blue Note. “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" went top ten, and exposed Herbie Hancock's “Cantaloupe Island" ...

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Us3: Hand On The Torch

by Jim Santella
May 1, 1997

Much of the talk about Us3, hip hop, and its mixture of rap with jazz has centered around the sampling of legendary jazz tunes. While rap remains the centerpiece, jazz sampling takes a back seat to the fine mainstream jazz presented by the members of Us3, including trumpeter Gerard Presencer, guitarist Tony Remy, trombonist Dennis Rollins, pianist Matt Cooper, and saxophonists Ed Jones, Mike Smith & Steve Williamson. The arranging, programming, and effects are created by Mel Simpson and Geoff ...