David Axelrod, producer and composer of some of the last century’s most inspiring, soulful music, has sadly passed away aged 83. The Waveform Transmitter’s Ste Knight mourns the sad loss of a jazz-funk great.
David Axelrod, the visionary behind seminal works such as Heavy Axe and Songs of Innocence, has sadly passed away at the age of 83.
Axelrod, who was sampled by some of the biggest hip-hop and rap acts since the inception of the sound, is revered for his production techniques, as well as his influential fusion of jazz, funk, and soul, within his music.
Tributes have been pouring in from artists who worked with Axelrod, including DJ Shadow (who famously sampled The Human Abstract on his Midnight in a Perfect World track), Cyprus Hill, Flying Lotus, and Madlib.
So honored to have known you David, you are a bonafide hero to an entire generation of hip-hop kids and musical dreamers. Miss you Axe!!!
— DJ Shadow (@djshadow) February 6, 2017
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It is fair to say that Axelrod had more than a passing influence on music as it stands today. His work is cited as affecting a great number of modern artists, many of which come from a hip-hop background. Dr.Dre sampled Axelrod‘s work on his track The Next Episode, while Terri’s Tune was sampled by both Inspectah Deck and Ghostface Killah of rap super-crew Wu-Tang Clan.
At the time of writing details of David Axelrod‘s passing are yet to be released.
