Kamaal Williams: The Return !

Cross-pollination of jazz and hip hop has spread fast during the 2010s. In-the-moment creativity and giving-the-drummer-some are powerful synergies. In the US, key players include Kamasi Washington, Thundercat and Christian Scott. In Britain, they include the extended family of musicians associated with reed player Shabaka Hutchings and the Brownswood Recordings label. Some of the British players are featured on the previously reviewed We Out Here (Brownswood, 2018), which is a great snapshot of the scene as it exists in London in spring 2018. 

Among Brownswood's alumni are keyboard player Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu) and drummer Yussef Dayes. As Yussef Kamaal, the pair debuted with Black Focus (Brownswood, 2016), a thrilling blend of hip hop-derived British musics and the jazz-funk legacies of Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith and Roy Ayers. In 2017, the duo were booked to perform at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, but at the last moment US homeland security refused to give visas to members of the party. Yussef Kamaal broke up shortly after this. 

Happily, Williams and Dayes both remain active, albeit separately. Dayes is prominently featured on Toshio Matsuura Group's previously reviewed Loveplaydance: 8 Scenes From The Floor (Brownswood, 2018) and on Tenderlonious's soon-to-be-released The Shakedown (22a). Williams has resurfaced with the appropriately titled The Return on his fledgling Black Focus label, made with the ferocious rhythm section of drummer MckNasty and bassist Pete Martin. The fourth member of the group is engineer Richard Samuels, whose studio expertise is crucial to the music. Brownswood regular, guitarist Mansur Brown, guests on "LDN Shuffle," tearing off a solo which gives more than a nod to John McLaughlin's work with Mahavishnu Orchestra. 

The Return takes up where Black Focus left off, harnessing classic jazz-funk and fusion with hip hop and its British offspring grime, broken beat and drum & bass. Beats are key, and so are great melodies and trippy ambiances. It is jazz, Jim, but only as we have recently got to know it, and it all hangs together beautifully.

Track Listing: Salaam; Broken Theme; The Return; High Roller; Situations; Catch The Loop; Rhythm Commission; Medina; LDN Shuffle; Aisha.

Personnel: Kamaal Williams: keyboards; Pete Martin: bass; MckNasty: drums; Mansur Brown: guitar (track 9).

Title: The Return | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Black Focus

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Terence Blanchard: Live

As trumpeter Terence Blanchard is wont to do, he blends spoken word, rock, funk, the electrified, the experimental, the second line, the bop, blues, and hip hop on the swaggering, often staggering, Live, his latest Blue Note release. 

Bidding us to ..."find our voices..." Marcus Miller's "Hannibal" evolves from a floating piano intro (courtesy of Fabian Almazan) into a Zappa-like wash of horns, synths, and lots of guitar, bass 'n' drums. The music swims, the horn heralds and we're caught in the tidal waves of Blanchard's visceral statement concerning America's worship of guns and the daily violence that ensues. All the music here is in response to the seemingly-endless loop of active shooters and the lives—mostly black, yet blind to color, creed, and moral code—lost to the avalanche of guns in our ever-corrosive society. "Hannibal" slips into "Kaos" as it should and—a hallmark of Blanchard's singular composing, where anything is possible at any possible moment—moves into double time, amplified horn, and a frenzied Charles Altura guitar solo. Drummer Oscar Seaton somehow makes sense of it all, muscling his way into the maelstrom. Blanchard soars like angry mothers marching, like the voices of tens of thousands shouting "Enough!" 

"Unchanged" begins with Altura lulling us into a dreamy state until the rest of the band—led by Blanchard and bad-ass bassist David DJ Ginyard Jr.—each take several hot minutes to declare themselves. "Dear Jimi" and "Can Anyone Hear Me" come on as full-fledged, guitar-driven fusion over synth walls of texture and the unstoppable rhythm section. Blanchard may not, as he comments in the one-sheet, put the band together to play protest music, but the proof, as they say, is in the very hot mix. The E-Collective and Live are very hard and angry. Forgiving, and utterly human.

Track Listing: Hannibal; Kaos; Unchanged; Soldiers; Dear Jimi; Can Anyone Hear Me; Choices

Personnel: Terence Blanchard - trumpet Fabian Almazan - piano, synthesizers Charles Altura - guitar David Ginyard - bass Oscar Seaton - drums

Title: Live | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Blue Note

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Carl Bartlett, Jr.: Promise!

Winner of the USA 2015-16 International Songwriting Competition Jazz Category, Carl Bartlett Jr. showcases his skills on PROMISE!. The album's warm, vivacious compositions offer plenty of cheer and good feelings. The result is guaranteed to bring a Billy Higgins smile to your face. Bartlett's alto sax playing is equally sunny. Like Bobby Watson or Donald Harrison, he offers strong and graceful phrases that slip and slide through the songs in clever and fascinating ways. 

Not to be outdone, Bartlett's bandmates reinforce the sweet, friendly, jovial ambience of the album with exceptional playing. There are no weak links in this chain. Every member cooks with gas. 

The album opens with the title cut, "PROMISE!" Bartlett's solo quickly evolves from a sharp intro into straight-ahead bop and engaging motifs. It's as if his music were floating in the clouds. Listen to the tonguing of the reed and the rapid-fire sax notes—always controlled and centered on the melody. Yoichi Uzeki contributes with a boisterous piano solo of his own, and Sylvia Cuenca adds to the mix with some top-notch drumming. 

More serious in nature, "Dialed In (Like a Laser)" begins with a flutter on the reed—followed by a sax improvisation. The tune gives Uzeki a chance to stretch, and his solo exhibits lots of ups and downs, strikes and sprawls. Cuenca adds her rhythmic skills and uses the entire trap set to shift the music in meter and syncopation. 

Of all the joyful tunes on the album, "The Bartlett Family" may be the most jubilant. This one highlights the trumpet playing of Bartlett's uncle, Charlie Bartlett. Together, the Bartletts and Uzeki provide sharp bop playing while the bass and drums settle in behind the magic. 

With a bluesy solo, Uzeki begins the ballad, "As the Gift Unfolds Before My Eyes." What follows is Bartlett's solo, conjuring city lights emerging on a late afternoon in setting sun, thoughts of a pleasant stroll along a beautiful river that opens to the ocean. The atmosphere is echoed in Marcus McLaurine's bass playing over Cuenca's brushwork. 

The graceful theme of "Ethereal Heartbeat," swoops forward as if flying through the sky. McLaurine's poetic and intense solo leads into a Uzeki solo that delights and sparkles. 

The closing number, "It's Been So Grand" features Bartlett and his uncle. The theme is never forceful; the music just flows. Uzeki follows the duo with a blues modal solo. His fingers dance and cascade on the piano until Bartlett takes over with a bubbly hot sax solo. Drummer Cuenca gets into the action again with some choice statements that go back and forth with the ensemble. 

PROMISE! is open, heartfelt, and sincere. Nothing is hidden. Everything is exposed. For those who relish walks in the sun, the fragrance of flowers, fresh air, and the warmth of family and friends, this album is for you. Recommended.

Track Listing: PROMISE!; High Pizzazz; Dialed In (Like A Laser); As The Gift Unfolds Before My Eyes; The Bartlett Family; Ethereal Heartbeats; Fidgety Season; It's Been So Grand.

Personnel: Carl Bartlett, Jr.: alto saxophone; Yoichi Uzeki: piano; Marcus McLaurine: bass; Sylvia Cuenca: drums; Charles Bartlett: trumpet

Title: Promise! | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Self Produced

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Dan Weiss: Starebaby

It is always interesting when a musician's newest release zigzags away from previous works, making an abrupt change of course. Often it happens at the request of a producer or record company, and probably because his/her previous disc was not well received. This in no way explains Starebaby by drummer Dan Weiss. Sixteen: Drummers Suite (Pi Recordings, 2016) and Fourteen (Pi Recordings, 2014), both larger ensemble recordings, composed and arranged by the drummer were critical successes. He could easily have continued down the same path. 

Not a chance. He assembled a cast of superstars; keyboardists Craig Taborn and Matt Mitchell, guitarist Ben Monder, and bassist Trevor Dunn to create a jazz-meets-doom metal power lunch at the corner of electro and acoustic street. A piece like "The Memory of My Memory" hits as hard as anything by the band Blind Idiot God, where massive hulking bass line and thunderous drums follow a dream sequence of echoey synth notes and a guarded piano. The music was inspired by David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks and "Badalamenti" is dedicated to Angelo Badalamenti who wrote the soundtrack for that show. Eerie doesn't begin to describe the music. Painted at night, the music is propelled by Weiss' varied pulse. He draws from his background in Indian drumming and his association with the sludge metal band Bloody Panda to propel this session. 

Please don't get the wrong impression. This recording is as thoroughly composed and orchestrated as his large ensemble recordings. Weiss brings that same musicianship to this heavy metal plus outing. Where a metal band might be a one trick pony, Weiss has the talents of Mitchell and Taborn to create elaborate piano and synthesizer confections. Both work in pulse and dissonant effects, as does Monder, whose guitar work ranges from chamber music to chainsaw shredding. With Trevor Dunn on bass, Weiss has circled back to the days of Fantômas and Secret Chiefs 3, but with a mutated DNA that allows for stronger melodies and more compelling instrumental interactions.

Track Listing: A Puncher's Chance; Depredation; Annica; Badalamenti; Cry Box; The Memory of My Memory; Veiled; Episode 8.

Personnel: Craig Taborn: piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers; Matt Mitchell: piano, Prophet-6, modular synthesizers; Ben Monder: guitars; Trevor Dunn: electric bass; Dan Weiss: drums.

Title: Starebaby | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Pi Recordings

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Dafnis Prieto Big Band : Back To The Sunset

The alliance of Latin music and American jazz ripened on these shores more than seventy years ago, nourished by pioneers such as Mario Bauza, Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, Machito, Tito Puente and others. It has been carried forward and enhanced since then by a succession of remarkable innovators including in recent years the Cuban-born drummer Dafnis Prieto who has chosen on his seventh recording as leader to honor a number of his forebears and musical heroes in a big-band format. 

To help assure its success, Prieto assembled a blue-ribbon corps of New York-based musicians to dispatch nine of his tasteful compositions and arrangements. As one would expect, rhythm has the upper hand throughout, amplified by Prieto and ace percussionist Roberto Quintero . Prieto also makes good use of a trio of esteemed guest artists: altos Henry Threadgill (adapting better than one might envision on "Back to the Sunset"), Steve Coleman (the earnest "Song for Chico") and trumpeter Brian Lynch ("Uno Vez Mas," whose opening passage calls to mind Gillespie's "Manteca"). As everyone in the ensemble is a well-endowed soloist in his own right, there are no letdowns in that quarter. 

Neither are there any concerns about Prieto's compositions, which are bright, rhythmic and melodious in the best Afro-Cuban jazz tradition. There are dedications to Gillespie and Pozo ("The Triumphant Journey"), Bauza and the O'Farrills, Chico and Arturo ("Song for Chico"), as well as to Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Egberto Gismonti, Jerry Gonzalez, Michel Camilo, Chucho and Bebo Valdes, Art Blakey, Jane Bunnett, Bobby Carcasses, Dave Samuels and even Buddy Rich ("Two for One," on which Prieto takes his only extended solo). Lynch solos with Quintero, Prieto and pianist Manuel Valera on "Una Vez Mas," Threadgill on "Sunset," Coleman with Quintero, Prieto and trumpeter Nathan Eklund on "Chico." 

As noted, all of the soloists are splendid, with Peter Apfelbaum's melodica especially welcome on the colorful "Danzonish Potpourri" (Apfelbaum is heard to good advantage on tenor sax on "The Sooner the Better" and "Two for One"). Others whose eloquent voices are raised at various times include bassist Ricky Rodriguez, flugel Alex Sipiagin, alto Roman Filiu, baritone Chris Cheek, trumpeter John Deutsch, soprano (and piccolo) Michael Thomas, soprano / tenor Joel Frahm, trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and the trombone section (Tim Albright, Alan Ferber, Jacob Garchik, bass Jeff Nelson) who are showcased with Cheek on "Out of the Bone." 

As an homage to Latin / American jazz, this is exemplary. More than that, it is an album whose rhythmic intensity, harmonic discernment, intuitive brilliance and impressive group dynamic should enhearten jazz lovers of every persuasion. 

Track Listing: Una Vez; The Sooner the Better; Out of the Bone; Back to the Sunset; Danzonish Potpourri; Song for Chico; Prelude Para Rosa; Two for One; The Triumphant Journey.

Personnel: Mike Rodríguez: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Nathan Eklund: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Alex Sipiagin: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Josh Deutsch: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Román Filiú: Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute, Clarinet; Michael Thomas: Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute, Piccolo; Peter Apfelbaum: Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, Melodica; Joel Frahm: Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax; Chris Cheek: Bari Sax; Tim Albright: Trombone; Alan Ferber: Trombone; Jacob Garchik: Trombone; Jeff Nelson: Bass Trombone; Manuel Valera: Piano; Ricky Rodríguez: Acoustic & Electric Bass; Roberto Quintero: Congas, Bongos, Percussion; Dafnis Prieto: Drums & Music Director; Brian Lynch: Trumpet (Track 1); Henry Threadgill: Alto Sax (Track 4); Steve Coleman: Alto Sax (Track 6).

itle: Back to the Sunset | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Dafnison Music

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.