Podcasts · You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians

The Genius of D'Angelo's Voodoo

23 Jun 2025 · 1 h 17 min · S12 E20

We’re finally digging into “Voodoo” - D’Angelo’s Grammy-winning album that changed the sound of R&B, soul, and hip-hop forever. And the album a young Adam Maness had on repeat, seriously influencing his playing as well as countless musicians since. With Questlove’s “Dilla-drag” drumming, Pino Palladino’s funky bass lines, Roy Hargrove’s jazzy horn arrangements, and Charlie Hunter’s chicken-picking guitar, Voodoo is packed with the kind of cross-genre musicality that makes jazz musicians lose their minds. Twenty-five years later, Voodoo still grooves harder, hits deeper, and sounds more human than many albums of its generation. In this episode, you’ll hear:

• What makes D’Angelo’s groove so unique (and hard to imitate) • Isolated tracks, rare demos, and interviews with the artists • How “Spanish Joint” came together in a single take • Whether “Feel Like Makin’ Love” tops the Roberta Flack original • And whether “Voodoo” is even an R&B album at all

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The episode on the publisher’s site ↗ (opens in a new tab)