Category: jazz fusion

hip-hop by William Ruben Helms

Throughout his career Robert Glasper has become known as the leader of a new sonic paradigm with his work bridging a number of musical and artistic genres. So far, the accomplished musician, composer and producer has received 11 Grammy nominations across 11 categories and has won five. Glasper has also won an Emmy Award for his work with Common and Karriem Riggins for Ava DuVernay‘s critically applauded documentary 13th. Adding to his impressive accomplishments, the acclaimed artist has also won a Peabody Award for his composition, “Mr. Soul!”

Glasper’s work and accolades bridge all aspects of the music business, from live touring, film scores, composing and producing. His ongoing Black Radio series has become his calling card and the heart of a trailblazing community of collaborators including Yasiin Bey, Bilal, Ledisi, Lupe Fiasco, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu. Glasper is an artist at the heart of an important moment — and a movement — to champion Black music, Black people, and the possibility of a better future for all of us.

Founded back in 1981, New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club is one of the premier venues in the world. While jazz is at its core, the famed club continues to broaden its offerings to spotlight contemporary artists across all musical styles, backgrounds and cultures.

The club and its sister institutions across the globe continue to draw beloved — and massive — household names with frequent appearances from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Quincy Jones, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and more.

Last Friday, The Blue Note Jazz Club and Robert Glasper announced the fifth annual Robtober, his iconic residency. Kicking off on October 4, 2023 — with two shows per night at 8pm and 10:30pm — and running until November 5, 2023, Season 5 of the residency will see the acclaimed pianist, producer, composer and songwriter performing eight distinct episodes, with a different array of renowned special guests including Yebba, Norah Jones, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Moonchild‘s Amber Navran, D Smoke, Yasiin Bey, Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge, and DJ Jahi Sundance.

A complete list of dates are below. Tickets are available here y’all. Don’t lose out on a legendary month at The Blue Note.

BLUE NOTE x ROBERT GLASPER “ROBTOBER”

SEASON 5

EPISODE ONE: THE ORGINIAL TRIO: TRIBUTE TO PIANO GIANTS
October 4—The Original Trio: Tribute to Piano Giants—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 5—The Original Trio: Tribute to Piano Giants—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE TWO: YEBBA
October 6—Robert Glasper x Yebba—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 7—Robert Glasper x Yebba—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 8—Robert Glasper x Yebba—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE THREE: NORAH JONES
October 11—Robert Glasper x Norah Jones—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 12—Robert Glasper x Norah Jones—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 13—Robert Glasper x Norah Jones—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 14—Robert Glasper x Norah Jones—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 15—Robert Glasper x Norah Jones—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE FOUR: AMBER NAVRAN (MOONCHILD)
October 18—Robert Glasper x Amber Navran (of Moonchild)—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 19—Robert Glasper x Amber Navran (of Moonchild)—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE FIVE: DINNER PARTY FEAT.
TERRACE MARTIN & KAMASI WASHINGTON
October 20—Dinner Party feat. Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington
—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 21—Dinner Party feat. Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington
—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 22—Dinner Party feat. Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington
—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE SIX: TRIBUTE TO ART BLAKEY & THE JAZZ MESSENGERS
October 25—Tribute to Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 26—Tribute to Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE SEVEN: D SMOKE
October 27—Robert Glasper x D Smoke—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 28—Robert Glasper x D Smoke—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
October 29—Robert Glasper x D Smoke—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

EPISODE EIGHT: YASIIN BEY
November 1—Robert Glasper x yasiin bey feat. Chris Dave, Derrick Hodgeand DJ Jahi Sundance—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYCNovember 2—Robert Glasper x yasiin bey feat. Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge
and DJ Jahi Sundance—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
November 3—Robert Glasper x yasiin bey feat. Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge
and DJ Jahi Sundance—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
November 4—Robert Glasper x yasiin bey feat. Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge
and DJ Jahi Sundance—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
November 5—Robert Glasper x yasiin bey feat. Chris Dave, Derrick Hodge
and DJ Jahi Sundance—Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Formed in 2021, Paris-based collective Asynchrone — Aloe Blacc‘s Clément Petit (cello), producer and musician Frédéric Soulard, Hughes Mayot (clarinet, sax), Delphine Joussein (flute), Manuel Peskine (piano) and A.L.B.E.R.T.’s Vincent Taeger (drums) — features a collection of musicians across the city’s free jazz and electro scenes, who wanted to honor the work of the late, legendary Japanese jazz keyboardist and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Influenced by Sakamoto’s freedom, mysticism and his ability to draw inspiration from Debussy and Kraftwerk equally, the Parisian collective revisits his massive back catalog with a breath of rebellious freedom and a communicative pleasure of playing. Fittingly, the members of Asynchrone see their endeavor as more than a tribute to a frozen, seemingly static body of work, but a tribute to pure creative freedom.

The Parisian collective burst into the scene with last year’s debut effort, Kling Klang EP. Sakamoto died from rectal cancer earlier this year, and a few months after his debut, the members of the Parisian jazz outfit announced that their full-length debut, Plastic Bamboo, will see a a September 29, 2023 release through Nø Førmat!

Plastic Bamboo‘s first single, title track “Plastic Bamboo” is the Parisian outfit’s loving yet subtle interpretation of Sakamoto’s “Plastic Bamboo,” which originally appeared on his full-length debut, 1978’s Thousand Knives. The original version sonically seems like a mischievous mix of Man Machine-era Kraftwerk, Parliament Funkadelic/Bootsy Collins-like funk built around a deceptively minimalist yet classical- melody. The Asynchrone rendition subtly modernizes the original, giving it a jazzier and percussive L’Eclair/Mildlife-like trippy groove while retaining the minimalist classical melody.

“The original version sounds like slow Funk mixed with influences from Kraftwerk, with a very melodic theme that reminds you of François de Roubaix’s music,” the members of Asynchrone explain. “This new refined and dynamic version gives more space to the drums, cello and rhythm boxes that give a sense of urgency to it, while the flute and the piano are playing the theme, giving it an exotica touch.”
 

Throwback by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 97th Birthday, Miles Davis!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 97th anniversary of Miles Davis.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 83rd Birthday, Herbie Hancock!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Herbie Hancock’s 83rd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Bristol’s King Heron Shares Funky and Soulful “Stasis” feat. Andrew Neil Hayes

Bristol-based jazz fusion trio King Heron — Jacob Houghton (guitar), Cerith Evans (guitar) and Cameron Macdougall (drums) — features three different and distinct musical personalties, who through a modern jazz sensibility and a focus on tight grooves, mesh disparate influences into a unique, difficult to pigeonhole style.

The trio supported their debut EP, last year’s Troika with regular shows at Bristol’s grassroots and indie venues, including Trinity Centre, Thekla, The Gallimaufry and The Jam Jar. Building upon a growing profile, the trio went on to play bars, clubs and art centers across the UK, opening for the likes of Oscar Jerome, Mdou Moctar, and Lydian Collective. They’ve also played at Bristol Harbour Festival.

The rising Bristol trio’s first single “Stasis” is the first bit of new material since the release of Troika EP — and it also marks the first in a series of singles that the band plans to release this year. Featuring a guest appearance from Andrew Neil Hayes on sax, “Stasis” is rooted in the trio’s penchant for a trippy and insistent grooves paired Hayes’ soulful horn solo in a composition that seems to draw from funk, dub and jazz fusion in a seamless fashion. While displaying the musicians dexterous musicianship, the composition also manages to display the their instinctual ability to know when to lead, when to follow and when to make space.

“It was a real honour to record with Andrew — he’s a bit of a Bristol legend and someone that I’ve looked up to for a long time,” King Heron’s Jacob Houghton says. “He came in and blew our heads off. Playing with someone of his calibre made everyone raise their game, and created a special energy in the room.”

The accompanying video captures the Bristol-based trio and Hayes in the studio performing the song. And it captures the instant simpatico held by each of the musicians in the room.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their first two albums’ 2020’s All News Is Good News and Daylight Savings, the Melbourne, Australia-based instrumental, jazz-funk outfit Surprise Chef — Lachlan Stuckey (guitar), Jethro Curtin (keys), Carl Lindberg (bass), Andrew Congues (drums) and their newest member, Hudson Whitlock (percussion, composition and production) — quickly amassed a fanbase internationally, while establishing their self-proclaimed “moody shades of instrumental jazz-funk” sound, which draws from 70s film scores, the samples that form hip hop’s foundations,w jazz fusion and jazz funk. 

But while inspired by the sounds of the past, the Aussie outfit actively push the boundaries of instrumental soul and funk with an approach honed by countless hours in the studio, studying the masters, and perhaps more importantly, “the tyranny of distance” that helps create a unique perspective to their work. 

The band was limited in the fact that there weren’t many people making or even talking about instrumental jazz/soul/funk in Southeast Australia, let alone putting out records. And as a result, this gave the band an opportunity to develop their sound and approach in a sort of creative isolation, where a small circle of friends and like-minded musicians fed off each other. 
“Being in Australia, being so far away, we only get glimpses and glances of this music’s origins,” Surprise Chef’s Lachlan Stuckey says. “But hearing a label like Big Crown was one of the first times we realized you could make fresh, new soul music that wasn’t super retro or just nostalgic.” 

The Aussie outfit’s third album Education & Recreation is slated for an October 14, 2022 release through Big Crown Records. Their Big Crown Records debut sees the band putting their unique sound and approach on full display.

So far I’ve written about two singles:

  • “Money Music,” a strutting and funky pimp walk featuring an expansive arrangement consisting of skittering breakbeats, twinkling key and vibraphone, a sinuous and propulsive bass line paired with a wah wah pedaled guitar that ends with a dreamy fade out. Sonically “Money Music” struck me as being a slick, mischievous and remarkably self-assured synthesis of Polymood and Sauropoda-era L’Eclair, old school hip-hop breakbeat compilations and jazz funk within a mind-bending twisting and turning song structure with rapid tempo changes. 
  • “Suburban Breeze,”  a trippy composition that features elements of Return to Forever and Headhunter-era Herbie Hancock, hip hop breakbeats and film scores centered around twinkling keys, bursts of organ arpeggios, soulfully fluttering flute, sinuous bass lines and metronomic-like percussion. Sonically, the song evokes breezy, easy-going summer afternoons of daydreaming and hanging out without anything in particular to do. 

“Iconoclasts,” Education & Recreation’s third and latest single is a dreamy lullaby centered around twinkling keys, shimmering and looping guitar lines, skittering yet metronomic-like percussion paired with boom bap drumming and a subtle bass line. The song evokes the sensation of drifting off to sleep — perhaps while you’re working at something.

“‘Iconoclasts’ was recorded in the final hours of the marathon eight-day recording session for Education & Recreation,” the Aussie outfit explains. “We’d been locked in our house, the College Of Knowledge in Coburg, Australia, recording for roughly 12 hours a day, and there was very little left in the fuel tank. The recording ended up having a super unique energy within the collection of tracks we did for Education & Recreation, due mostly, I think, to the manically tired state we were in and the knowledge that we only had to complete this tune and then we’d be allowed to finish the session.” 

The Aussie jazz funk band will be embarking on their first North American tour this October. The tour includes a stop at this year’s Desert Daze and an October 13, 2022 stop at The Sultan Room. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

Surprise Chef Tour Dates

Oct 1-2 – Lake Perris, CA – Desert Daze

Oct 4 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA

Oct 5 – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA

Oct 7 – Star Theater – Portland, OR

Oct 8 – Fox Cabaret – Vancouver, BC

Oct 9 – Barboza – Seattle, WA

Oct 13 – Sultan Room – Brooklyn, NY

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their first two albums’ 2020’s All News Is Good News and Daylight Savings, the Melbourne, Australia-based instrumental, jazz-funk outfit Surprise Chef — Lachlan Stuckey (guitar), Jethro Curtin (keys), Carl Lindberg (bass), Andrew Congues (drums) and their newest member, Hudson Whitlock (percussion, composition and production) — quickly amassed a fanbase internationally, while establishing their self-proclaimed “moody shades of instrumental jazz-funk” sound, which draws from 70s film scores, the samples that form hip hop’s foundations and jazz fusion and jazz funk. 

But while inspired by the sounds of the past, the Aussie outfit actively push the boundaries of instrumental soul and funk with an approach honed by countless hours in the studio, studying the masters, and perhaps more importantly, “the tyranny of distance” that helps create a unique perspective to their work. 

The band was limited in the fact that there weren’t many people making or even talking about instrumental jazz/soul/funk in Southeast Australia, let alone putting out records. And as a result, this gave the band an opportunity to develop their sound and approach in a sort of creative isolation, where a small circle of friends and like-minded musicians fed off each other. 
“Being in Australia, being so far away, we only get glimpses and glances of this music’s origins,” Surprise Chef’s Lachlan Stuckey says. “But hearing a label like Big Crown was one of the first times we realized you could make fresh, new soul music that wasn’t super retro or just nostalgic.” 

The Aussie outfit’s third album Education & Recreation is slated for an October 14, 2022 release through Big Crown Records. Their Big Crown Records debut sees the band putting their unique sound and approach on full display. Now, earlier this month I wrote about album single “Money Music,” a strutting and funky pimp walk featuring an expansive arrangement consisting of skittering breakbeats, twinkling key and vibraphone, a sinuous and propulsive bass line paired with a wah wah pedaled guitar that ends with a dreamy fade out. Sonically “Money Music” struck me as being a slick, mischievous and remarkably self-assured synthesis of Polymood and Sauropoda-era L’Eclair, old school hip-hop breakbeat compilations and jazz funk within a mind-bending twisting and turning song structure with rapid tempo changes. 

“Suburban Breeze,” Education & Recreation‘s latest single clocks in at a little over two minutes and yet manages to be an expansive and trippy composition that features elements of Return to Forever and Headhunter-era Herbie Hancock, hip hop breakbeats and film scores centered around twinkling keys, bursts of organ arpeggios, soulfully fluttering flute, sinuous bass lines and metronomic-like percussion. Sonically, the song evokes breezy, easy-going summer afternoons of daydreaming and hanging out without anything in particular to do.

The Aussie jazz funk band will be embarking on their first North American tour this October. The tour includes a stop at this year’s Desert Daze and an October 13, 2022 stop at The Sultan Room. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

Surprise Chef Tour Dates

Oct 1-2 – Lake Perris, CA – Desert Daze

Oct 4 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA

Oct 5 – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA

Oct 7 – Star Theater – Portland, OR

Oct 8 – Fox Cabaret – Vancouver, BC

Oct 9 – Barboza – Seattle, WA

Oct 13 – Sultan Room – Brooklyn, NY

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Seattle’s High Pulp Shares Surreal and Symbolic Visual for “You’ve Got to Pull It Up From The Ground” feat. Theo Croker

Seattle-based jazz outfit High Pulp features:

  • Antoine Martel (keys, synths), a self-professed mad scientist with a wall of modular synthesizers and a passion for film scores and abstract soundscapes
  • Rob Homan (keys), whose innate ability to process, deconstruct and reassemble material on the fly bordered on the impressive and scary
  • Scott Rixon (bass), who comes from a punk and hardcore background and possesses pop sensibilities
  • Victor Nguyen (tenor sax), a Pharaoh Sanders acolyte with an ear for urgent, entrancing solos
  • Andrew Morrill (alto sax), whose bold tones and fearless harmonic sensibilities earned him a reputation for pushing the old school into the 21st Century
  • Bobby Granfelt (drums), whose hip-hop and bebop-inspired drumming laid the rhythmic foundation for the entire project

High Pulp can trace their origins to a loose, weekly jam session at Seattle’s historic Royal Room. “When you put us all together, our sound isn’t so much a fusion as it is a synthesis,” the band’s Bobby Granfelt says in press notes. ““There’s a lot of different personalities coming from a lot of different places, and we use it all as fuel to create something that’s totally our own.”

The Seattle sextet’s latest album Pursuit of Ends is slated for a Friday release through Anti- Records. The band’s unique brand of experimental jazz is simultaneously vintage and futuristic, often hinting at Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine and a wide range of others. The album’s material sees the band carefully balancing meticulous composition with visceral spontaneity and centered around virtuosic performances.

While High Pulp is primarily centered around their core six, Pursuit of Ends sees the band making judicious use of a board network of collaborators with guest spots from Jaleel Shaw (sax), who has played with Roy Haynes and Mingus Big Band; Brandee Younger (harp), who has played with Ravi Coltrane, The Roots, and Makaya McCraven; Grammy-nominated Theo Croker (trumpet); Jacob Mann (keys), who has played with Rufus Wainright and Louis Cole to help push their sonic boundaries even further.

Pursuit of Ends‘ latest single “You’ve Got To Pull It Up From The Ground” is a mind-bending and incredibly slick synthesis of bop, jazz fusion, funk and hip hop. The composition begins with an extensive bop jazz-inspired, drum solo. The song then quickly moves to a section featuring rapid fire percussion paired with sinuous bass lines, twinkling keys and a mournful, modal horn line led by Theo Croker’s expressive Miles Davis-like playing. Throughout the rest of the song, the melody floats and dances through the instrumentation. While the material is rooted in precise performance of the written composition, there’s ample room for soulful, free-flowing improvisation among a collection of sensitive and thoughtful artists.

“During COVID we spent a lot of time listen to Miles Davis’ Second Quintet, and specifically the drum solo at the start was inspired by ‘Agitation’ off of E.S.P.,” Granfelt explains “There’s something about that quintet that is so awe-inspiring. I think it’s the way they have such a deep shared concept which allows them to improvise in a meaningful way.”

“Pull It Up” is really a concept that is at the core of the band,” Granfelt explains. “It’s sort of about magic, sort of about will, sort of about self-love. It’s a concept based in the idea that things are already where they need to be, and it’s about unearthing what is already there as opposed to creating something ‘new’.”

Directed by Isaac Calvin and Seth Calvin, the accompanying video draws on the song’s overarching theme of digging deep, being persistent and staying humble. The video features Granfelt doing useful but mundane tasks: pulling nails out of a board, washing dishes, tying knots and so on. Towards the end f the video, Granfelt builds a shrine, but the offerings aren’t high quality of expensive; rather, they’re scuffed up, well-worn items including roadside flowers, cigarette butts, trinkets, tchotchkes and knick-knacks.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their first two albums’ 2020’s All News Is Good News and Daylight Savings, the Melbourne, Australia-based instrumental, jazz-funk outfit Surprise Chef — Lachlan Stuckey (guitar), Jethro Curtin (keys), Carl Lindberg (bass), Andrew Congues (drums) and their newest member, Hudson Whitlock (percussion, composition and production) — quickly amassed a fanbase internationally, while establishing their self-proclaimed “moody shades of instrumental jazz-funk” sound, which draws from 70s film scores, the samples that form hip hop’s foundations and jazz fusion and jazz funk.

But while inspired by the sounds of the past, the Aussie outfit actively push the boundaries of instrumental soul and funk with an approach honed by countless hours in the studio, studying the masters, and perhaps more importantly, “the tyranny of distance” that helps create a unique perspective to their work.

The band was limited in the fact that there weren’t many people making or even talk ing about instrumental jazz/soul/funk in Southeast Australia, let alone putting out records. And as a result, this gave the band an opportunity to develop their sound and approach in a sort of creative isolation, where a small circle of friends and like-minded musicians fed off each other.
Being in Australia, being so far away, we only get glimpses and glances of this music’s origins,” Surprise Chef’s Lachlan Stuckey says. “But hearing a label like Big Crown was one of the first times we realized you could make fresh, new soul music that wasn’t super retro or just nostalgic.” 

The Aussie outfit’s third album Education & Recreation is slated for an October 14, 2022 release through Big Crown Records. Their Big Crown Records debut sees the band putting their unique sound and approach on full approach. Education & Recreation‘s latest single “Money Music” is a strutting and funky pimp walk of a composition featuring an expansive arrangement consisting of skittering breakbeats, twinkling key and vibraphone, a sinuous and propulsive bass line paired with a wah wah pedaled guitar that ends with a dreamy fade out.

Sonically, “Money Music” strikes me as a slick, mischievous, and self-assured synthesis of Polymood and Sauropoda-era L’Eclair, old school hip-hop breakbeat compilations and jazz funk within a mind-bending twisting and turning song structure with rapid tempo changes.

The Aussie jazz funk band will be embarking on their first North American tour this October. The tour includes a stop at this year’s Desert Daze and an October 13, 2022 stop at The Sultan Room. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.

Surprise Chef Tour Dates

Oct 1-2 – Lake Perris, CA – Desert Daze

Oct 4 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA

Oct 5 – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA

Oct 7 – Star Theater – Portland, OR

Oct 8 – Fox Cabaret – Vancouver, BC

Oct 9 – Barboza – Seattle, WA

Oct 13 – Sultan Room – Brooklyn, NY

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Steve Terry Project is a Denver-based jazz/jazz-fusion/funk outfit. The band’s latest single “Hot Mess Express” is a a loose and laid back track seemingly drawing from 70s funk and jazz fusion centered around a bluesy and soulful horn line, twinkling organ, sinuous bass lines, bursts of retro-futuristic synths, rolling percussion placed within an expansive and improv-driven composition featuring a explosive peaks and meditative valleys. The composition also manages to be spacious enough for each musician to take the metaphorical wheel, catch the song’s funky groove and jam out.

Written during a caffeinated drive across Georgia and South Carolina, Terry found himself humming the bass line, connecting its repetitious nature to the seemingly endless sameness of trees, road, highway sign, trees, road, highway sign, sky. The composition’s horn line is meant to represent the stop and start nature of breaks in the trees — or a new landmark approaching. The track is also heavily influenced by the Grant Green standard “Jan Jan,” as Terry recalls having just performed it at an open jam prior to recording “Hot Mess Express.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy (Belated) 75th Birthday, Carlos Santana!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Carlos Santana’s 75th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 96th Birthday, Miles Davis!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 96th anniversary of Miles Davis’ birth.