The latest 7-inch release from NAUTILUS—a trio led by drummer Toshiyuki Sasaki, who has built a strong relationship of trust with the renowned AGOGO label while spearheading Japan’s rare groove and jazz-funk scene through hip-hop—is an elegant jazz-funk cover of “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” by Bob James—an indispensable sampling classic in the history of hip-hop—with the A-side (sample 1) delivering an elegant jazz-funk cover brimming with crisp, upbeat funk that makes the most of the original track’s brilliance, and, needless to say, a B-side (sample 2) that takes Kool & The Gang’s mellow classic “Summer Madness”—a track that intoxicates listeners with its dreamy, soulful synthesizer sounds—and transforms it into a more danceable, disco- and boogie soulful groove—all while preserving the original’s brilliance (sample 2). This exquisite 7-inch, which effortlessly blends hip-hop, rare groove, jazz-funk, and crossover-fusion disco and boogie—shining a light on NAUTILUS’s impeccable taste—has quietly emerged as an exquisite 7-inch release. (Original Japanese text by COMPUMA)