I first met Russell Malone about 10 years ago when I was putting together a Benny Green record titled These Are Soulful Days. This was a trio recording with Benny on the piano, Russell on guitar and Christian McBride on bass. After the recording, I had seen Russell perform live many times and he quickly entered my hot guitarist list. Last night I had the pleasure of catching a Russell Malone set at the Jazz Standard and I was surprised to see a few friends in his band. Jonathan Blake was on drums and Indaba member Tassili Bond played bass. It turned out to be a fun night with good friends and great music. Check out Russell when you get a chance. It will certainly be worth your time. 

Oh Lordy, this was awesome. We have to say that through listening to these we never found one that was bad. You, the community, wrangling this music, making these mixes have inspired us. We are truly flattered and we think you are legit. You sound like pros.

It is absurd that we are picking a "winner" as if one of these was better than all the others. We had a hard time with this. We loved all the different beats and change ups.

Winning Submission

Eduardo Reynoso Jr "Versatile"

"The humor at the top made us laugh for sure-as well as the way he mixed and how loud he rocked the guitar volumes -solo's and everything. Distorting the vocal in the middle of the song was a great idea, too."

"I really think he made a musical remix of the song and would love to jam with him. I am not just saying that because he and his wife come out and support my other band Year Long Disaster when we play in LA (and even in Vegas when we supported the Foos). He made interesting changes while still maintaining the essence of the song. Great use of effects for musical reasons as opposed to just adding some stuff onto the track because you can. I am really impressed with the production. It is just very musical."

Honorable Mentions

Ben Crea

"This could be a remix on a dance floor in any city right now. There is a sweet musical blend between Pink Floyd's The Wall blended with Depeche Mode. I am a fan of both of those bands-and the way you brought the sounds in-was as good as any pro-I know of. You let your creativity loose-while maintaining a semblance of the track-hard to do-but well done! BRAVO!!!!"

juan jose a.

"Liked the vibe of this one--raising the tempo-going full force for the euro dance floor. taking the vocals out was a bold move also--it made room for variance in the sonic spectrum-and created a new song out of a song-which is really a artistic way to go. You obviously understand your keyboards and it shows-the sounds fit well together."

David Marion

"Very convincing version of the song in a reggae style(ly). The production is such that it is easy to imagine the song originally written and produced in that style. I am not a huge fan of reggae other than some Marley and the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, but nonetheless, this a a very "pro sounding" remix. Well done."

Sunija Philip

"This sounds like Ric Ocasik produced it so I immediately think it is cool. It just reminds me of the Cars for some reason. Maybe it is the bass or the 1/8 note guitar. Nice root note changes. Very cool. I will try and forgive you for not using any of my drums."

Gabriel Ill Urian

"I dig his dance mix. The message of the song still comes across while serving the purpose of dance track. You got skillz."

tom olbrich

"His work has stood the test of time for me. I liked it originally. He drastically changed the feeling of the song but still somehow makes it convincing."

Remember, Indaba, you can still join the 3EB remix contest for their track "Don't Believe A Word,": just make sure you do so by November 6th.