Marquis Hill – The Way We Play

Posted on September 1, 2016 by aaamc

Artist: Marquis Hill

Formats: CD, Digital

Release date: June 24, 2016

Chicago trumpeter Marquis Hill, who studied under Ronald Carter at Northern Illinois University and earned a masters in jazz pedagogy from DePaul University, released several projects of his original music on Skiptone Music. In 2014, Hill won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition, which awarded him a recording contract with Concord Records. From this contract comes his debut album for Concord Jazz, The Way We Play, which pays homage to jazz standards reinterpreted by Hill and his ensemble, the Blacktet, featuring Christopher McBride (sax), Justin Thomas (vibes), Makaya McCraven (drums), and Joshua Ramos (bass).

The title track, “The Way We Play/Minority” is playful mashup of a Gigi Gryce tune and features spoken word by Harold Green III. It can be listened to as a manifesto (“the way we play is / the way we love”), or as Hill emphatically states, “this is the sound of my band, which is uniquely Chicago.” Green enters after the intro, claiming the music’s blackness, stating “the way we play signify from which we came/Black always in season.” Light and fast paced, Hill’s rendition never numbs a gut or unseats a listener as free jazz strove to do. This is a fantastic piece, which describes many of the songs on this release. It dances the spirit in a comforting way and is great at romancing the beings that this society has had us become. The drumming is singularly superb and so the trumpet playing.

Other highlights are Horace Silver’s “Moon Rays,” which inspires idealism in its listener, and the Afro-Cuban take on “Fly Little Bird Fly” (by Donald Byrd), which also features spoken word by Harold Green. His prose asks “the descendants of sharecroppers” to “sprinkle black girl magic” and “rise and dance.” Are these songs politically romantic? Marquis Hill seems to intend to transform at least some of the tracks into statements of political activism or even protest. Also included on the album is an Afro-Latin version of “Smile,” the Charlie Chaplin tune, while “My Foolish Heart” is a love ballad with R&B influences featuring Christie Dashiell on vocals.

Marquis Hill’s The Way We Play is a delightful album that combines the best of two worlds: Archie Shepp without the jagged edges, post-bop with overt protest.

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar

Talib Kweli – Fuck the Money

Posted on August 1, 2016 by aaamc

Title: Fuck the Money

Artist: Talib Kweli

Label: Javotti Media

Formats: CD, LP, Digital

Release date: December 11, 2015 (CD)

According to the French art theorist Nicolas Bourriad, many of our modernities are defined by moving towards an explosion, or a release of energy. Hip hop, more than most other musical genres, seems to express this quest for explosion, time and again. Despite its recent widespread lyrical decrepitude, millions listen to hip hop because it expresses this explosion. Rapper Talib Kweli, known for his political rap, released the digital version of his latest album, Fuck the Money, for free. He seems to want to explode the capitalism that defines the individual realities that we lead and provide us with a rhythmic, unburdening, existence. It’s a commendable effort that could have been that much better if it was the product of serious thought, and not a fascination with tough slogans and hip hop’s ability to speak to pathos.

The album itself sounds like the electronic production that we are used to associating with expensive beats—it’s charged yet simple, as though there was not quite enough money to purchase even better beats. “Money Good” is the album’s best song, featuring a mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation that melds perfectly with Kweli’s delivery. “Nice Things” is a great and loud listen, featuring the fast paced, conscious rap that Kweli is well known for. He throws punchlines that are brilliantly woven together into a moral statement, but it’s the song’s agenda that resonates the most. “Echoes” features great rhythm and ambient, dream-like production. The album gets smoother as it progresses, and Kweli is actually much better at being smooth than he is at being loud. “Baby Girl” is an example of this, with Kweli sounding very similar to young J. Cole. On “The Venetian,” featuring Niko Is & Ab-Soul, they rap about their progression from corner stores to luxury hotels.

Though it might be tempting to sit amazed by the A-list of producers featured on the album’s 11 tracks, I would not recommend listening to the album that way. Look at the name of the producer only after listening to the song, and judge the song on its own merits rather than by its credentials. Then, the songs’ limitations and strengths will become apparent.

Has the album led to a Bourriadian explosion? Have I now proclaimed, “fuck the money”? I, personally, have not. Though this album is a commendable effort with the spectacular song “Money Good,” it falls short of fully erupting.

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar

Anthony Hamilton – What I’m Feelin’

Posted on August 1, 2016 by aaamc

Title: What I’m Feelin’

Artist: Anthony Hamilton

Label: RCA

Formats: CD, MP3

Release Date: March 25, 2016

Listening to Anthony Hamilton’s What I’m Feelin’ is taking a plunge into the well-articulated and emotive present as communicated by a seasoned soul artist with an unforgettable singing style. In a music industry guided by commercial radio singles, Hamilton’s album requires your undivided attention: the texts, choral singing, and rhythm section—though loud and cool—are all part of a well-strategized and intimate musical biography that must be understood in order to fully appreciate the album.

A highlight of this album is “Still,” a accompanied by simple piano that showcases Hamilton’s vocals and his ability to hit high notes without any added effects, proving that he is a phenomenal singer. Except for a straightforward chorus, “still in (has) love,” each of this song’s lines belong to a detailed narrative about still being in love.

“What I’m Feelin’,” the album’s title song, will feel pretty familiar to Hamilton’s fans and features a mesmerizingly cool soul groove. “I Want You” is a loud, resonant song with sparse instrumentation despite an overall lavish sound—the synthesizers on this cut are electronic music at its most cunning, deceiving us into believing that Hamilton is singing along to a massive band, allowing listeners to experience lush textures which add up to a great listen. “Grateful” is to the point with its lyrics and instrumentation, musically evoking the deep feelings of love found in the lyrics.

“Save Me” is a funky love song. It’s sometimes hard to pay attention to the song’s lyrics except for the chorus, which Hamilton sings clearly. As with most funky love songs, it doesn’t really climax—Hamilton leaves listeners waiting on a George Clinton or a James Brown scream that will cue the band to break loose, but it never happens.

Check out “Amen,” another cut from What I’m Feelin’:

Much of the instrumentation, for example the use of synthesizers, on this album works well only because of Hamilton’s superb singing voice. His voice is the star of this album, while the rest of the music is a few steps behind him artistically. At this stage it might be wise for Hamilton to turn the page on cool soul songs and begin to work with more avant-garde instrumentation, bringing further nuance to his music.

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar

Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life – Nihil Novi

Posted on June 1, 2016 by aaamc

Title: Nihil Novi

Artist: Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life

Label: Blue Note

Formats: CD, MP3

Release Date: April 15,2016

Jazz is the DNA of Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life’s album Nihil Novi, produced by well-known avant-garde soul singer and bassist, Meshell Ndegeocello. This release is a collection of experimental expressionist jazz, playing upon the listener’s expectations as a strategy to arouse an emotional response. Expressionism is an undercurrent in many of the most recent contemporary jazz releases, such as Kamasi Washington’s The Epic and Terrace Martin’s Velvet Portraits. Perhaps this wave of expressionistic jazz is brought to us by hip hop culture or African American social and political dissent, channeling the emotional component of critique and protest. Might it be part of a larger wave or even school of jazz that the history books might look back on as characteristic of the 2010s? What we know is that Nihil Novi is an album of incredible compositions that are some of the best produced in contemporary jazz. Its songs give a listener some sort of triumphant feeling of melancholy, or what writer Albert Murray would describe as a feeling that can “stomp the blues.”

Every musician delivers on Nihil Novi. Twi-Life is made up of trumpeter Keyon Harrold, bassist Kyle Miles, drummer Charles Haynes, organist Mitch Henry, and keyboardist Masayuki Hirano. Singer Jean Baylor, bassists Pino Palladino and Meshell Ndegeocello, keyboardist James Francies, drummer Chris Dave, guitarist Chris Bruce, and pianist Robert Glasper also contribute. The end product is an album of poignant nuance, thrilling through its multitude of precise sounds and gorgeous songs. If the pieces on Nihil Novi were paintings, they would all be colored in dark hues. All of its songs were expressly composed for this album and fulfill the ambition that much American music has to take a look at the underbelly of things, even though this desire seems to be less present in contemporary jazz than other genres. The record’s songs are poignant, often sounding as if they were deliberately produced to leave us feeling unhinged.

“Talking Loud” features an excellent blend of saxophone, organ, singing and drumming. While the track’s subdued vocals (sung by Jean Baylor) take on a kind of emotionally numbing effect, the band’s playing is this cut’s most engaging feature. Baylor is also featured on “Alive,” which sounds like an R&B song accompanied by a jazz combo. On these two tracks, the vocalist takes turns with Marcus Strickland at being the center of attention, but ultimately the band’s leader delivers a more impressive performance. “Sissoko’s Voyage” might be one of this year’s best jazz songs—its melody and rhythm exuding a spiritual, infectious optimism. “Cherish Family,” “Celestelude,” “Drive,” and “Mantra” are all expertly composed and played, while “Inevitable” smacks of soul jazz and is perhaps the one song in which Baylor’s vocals shine brightest. “Cycle” may be one of the very best compositions of the year. It speaks to eros and ethos: the pursuit of both laughter and seriousness through balanced living. This is jazz that plays to our notions of play and of contemplation, creating emotional balance through musical proportions. Some will also be reminded of Miles Davis’s experiments in jazz fusion in the later part of his career.

Nihil Novi is one of the best jazz releases so far this year, and is also one of the strongest efforts by a group in any genre. Each and every song is surprising, all the while being deeply rooted in the “stomping the blues” tradition that informs most excellent African American music, and informed by its own moment in American cultural history.

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar

Santigold – 99 Cents

Posted on May 2, 2016 by aaamc

Title: 99 Cents

Artist: Santigold

Label: Atlantic

Formats: Cassette, CD, LP, MP3

Release Date: February 26, 2016

Santigold is mostly known as a fashion forward artist with a singular pop sound. Songs like “L.E.S. Artistes” and “Creator” from her two albums Santigold and Master of My Make-Believe have resonated their way into a remarkable place in contemporary American cultural history. Now a 39-year-old woman, her most recent release, 99c, is an album that not only expresses her singular musical control but also her maturity. She has produced her own take on pop that never sounds forced.

99 Cents begins extremely well with “Can’t Get Enough,” a terrific song that sounds like an elegant take on the pop music of the 1950’s:

The song “Banshee” is another notable track, though it sounds like her older releases. This indicates one of the issues with this album—sometimes it feels like her sound has not progressed and that we’re listening to songs from her older albums. Despite feeling unoriginal, “Banshee” is a good time. “Before the Fire” resonates like great American songs do: it is both weighty and light, and is probably the most interesting of the album’s 12 tracks.

“Outside the War” is another great song that combines rock and pop well. In it, we hear an understanding of the amount of space for lyrical experimentation that this blend can afford a musician being put to great use. “Run the Races” stings.

In an interview with Complex magazine, Santigold said “I set out to make a pop record that incorporates all the things Santigold records always incorporate, which is elements of African music, punk rock, hip-hop and everything that I would want to put into a song but still under the umbrella of a pop song where there’s a chorus you can sing along with. I like when pop is still good music, that’s what I like.” The long history of human artistry is a history of artists attempting artistic freedom: the ability to produce art that expresses “true selves.” There are still debates about the painting Mona Lisa and who it really depicts: either the wife of the man who commissioned Leonardo Da Vinci or a courtesan, suggesting that Da Vinci may have pushed against what he was “supposed” to do in favor of following his own muse. Something similar has happened in music, with pop musicians attempting personal “freedom” through artistic expression, despite the potential constraints that come with record labels and sales figures. Santigold’s effort puts her at the avant-garde of those who genuinely love pop and strive to produce their own take on it.

There’s a notable amount of very serious, almost political, playfulness in Santigold’s album that only she does in the pop music realm. Pop culture is a culture of play and most pop musicians take this to an extreme. But Santigold seems to want to take its playfulness in another direction, drawing her lyrical and musical style much closer to rock.

Santigold’s 99 Cents is a notable album. She combines rock and pop better than any of her peers do, pushing the boundaries of pop music beyond the limits set by radio and the musical performance circuit and into the realm of sincerity and actual personality.

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar

BJ The Chicago Kid – In My Mind

Posted on May 2, 2016 by aaamc

Title: In My Mind

Artist: BJ The Chicago Kid

Label: Motown

Formats: CD, MP3

Release date: February 19, 2016

“I love God, but I also love mob movies.” With these 9 words, BJ The Chicago Kid (a.k.a. Bryan James Sledge) begins In My Mind, an album that by its conclusion proves to be a record of immense musical intensity about the narrator’s personality, personhood, and opinions. The “I” in the quote that begins this paragraph remains the object of the album’s songs; BJ’s world and opinions are the subjects of our concern until the very end. To treat personality, personal opinion, and personhood musically, he explores familiar terrain with care, producing an album of R&B and soul songs that not only twists lyrics and resonating rhythms into first person dramas, but also into observations of the world that he lives in.

In My Mind is intensely felt throughout. Though it is not one of the best songs on this album, “Turnin’ Me Up” it is a great love song. Love, according to this song, is a simple, convivial, and lush chant. “Jeremiah/World” is what happens when simplicity is done well. What’s fascinating about this song is that it’s one of the least dramatic songs on the album, but also one of the most pleasant to listen to. Pleasantry is not what BJ The Chicago Kid is aiming for, however, as he references the prophet Jeremiah’s calling, asserting that “the feeling that he had then / I have right now.”

“The New Cupid” is a song that reveals that BJ The Chicago Kid is better at singing soul music than sin city R&B. We are introduced to a truly great voice when he sings that “Cupid is gone.” Kendrick Lamar makes a contribution, his rap elevating BJ’s singing.

“Woman’s World” is a very important song on the album. “I know that you heard that this is man’s world” flips the script on James Brown’s classic hit, extolling the virtues of femininity, an update that feels far more apropos in 2016. “Home” and “Crazy” contextualize the album, emphasizing BJ’s personality.

These days, we’ve come to expect the same romantic dramas from R&B. This is especially the case in the music of R&B of male singers. However, In My Mind contains a different kind of drama, one that incorporates the more varied themes that hip hop artists address into an R&B format.

What’s missing from this album is further musical refinement, despite its being an album of some the most nuanced R&B and soul released recently. The entire album is in simple vernacular language; perhaps further lyrical revision could have made the poetry as thrilling as the narratives, ultimately improving the songs. The songs’ arrangements could have also been more precise to emphasize the complex rhythmic vocabulary the artist employs. In My Mind seems humorless at times; BJ The Chicago Kid does not laugh much on this album except for during one skit and listeners seeking entertainment value exclusively may find this tone a bit sharp.

In My Mind is an intense listen and its slower songs are terrific. Though BJ The Chicago Kid is best at singing soul music, the album’s pitfall is that it chooses to not experiment as much as its musicians could, rather choosing to work in the more minimalistic contemporary R&B mold.

https://play.spotify.com/album/15iSR05cslUeYgf2kuWDhu

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar

Ram – Ram 6: Manman m se Ginen

Posted on May 2, 2016 by aaamc

Title: Ram 6: Manman m se Ginen

Artist: Ram

Label: Willibelle Publishing & Sales

Format: CD, MP3

Release date: January 15, 2016

In the Haitian musical style rasin, religious rhythms are blended with secular rhythms drawn from rock or pop. In the 1980’s, several Haitian musicians decided to play Haitian music true to what they believed were the island’s cultural roots—Vodou religion—and found a kind of bohemian success doing it.

Their movement was founded in both music and culture; rasin musicians would not only play Vodou music, but also dress and even walk in a manner closer to Haitian popular culture. In order to understand Vodou rhythms, they visited Haiti’s many Vodou Lakou temples, such as Lakou Badjo in the Artibonite, a region in Haiti known for its rice and legumes. They wore dreads but as cheve simbi, which translates to “simbi hair”—to match that of Kongo Simbi spirits transplanted to Haiti in Vodou mythology. These musicians played at very small venues, including the painter Jean Rene Jerome’s house. They mixed the rhythms that they found through their research with rhythms that they had personal affinities for, drawing from rock and other pop music styles. The very first rasin group was Foula, while the most internationally recognized today is likely Boukman Experyans. They were not the first Haitians to produce commercial music rooted in Vodou rhythms, however. In Haiti it is generally agreed that the true founder of Rasin music was Antalcidas Murat, who was a member of the group Super Jazz Des Jeunes. Like RAM, Jazz des Jeunes blended popular sounds of its day with Vodou rhythms, though the product was then called “folklore.”

With Manman m Se Ginen, RAM has released a wonderful album of 12 songs that illustrate the continued livelihood of rasin. What is perhaps this album’s defining characteristic is its copious rhythmic blending. These rhythmic layers are exactly what rasin music is all about. The album begins on a both strong and intense note with “Papa Loko,” based upon a rara rhythm and a short segment, almost a snippet, of the lyrics of the Vodou song “Papa Loko” as the basis of the song’s lyrics. Papa Loko is a Taino god, the founder of all, who made his way into the Vodou pantheon of gods. This kind of borrowing continues on the song “Jije’m Byen,” a reinterpretation of a song made famous by the great singer Coupe Cloue. In this case, the voice of Cloue, a vagabond male, is replaced by Lunise Morse, a Haitian woman with a soulful voice. Morse is joined by a rough-sounding choir singing along with heavily-processed melodic guitar in counterpoint.

“Tout Pitit” and “Kolibri Anko” are enjoyable listens though, like the other songs on this album, may not engage a listener enough who is well versed in contemporary musical styles. If it were not for the synthesizers in the song’s intro, “Kolibri Met Bwa” would be the album’s standout track. The rhythm engages a listener and the medley of instruments is both rich sounding and precise in communicating beauty and urgency. “Ogou O” is a fascinating listen, about a transplanted Yoruba god of war who is now a deity in Haitian Vodou. Perhaps it is the effect of RAM’s having fought long and hard in Haitian politics since the 1990’s that makes them sing about Ogou in such a melancholy style. “Mon Konpe Gede” is the album’s best song by far. Gede is a cultural event in Haiti and a Vodou celebration of the dead and their spirits, and “Mon Konpe Gede” is particularly well-orchestrated.

Perhaps it is because RAM is now a legendary music group in Haiti, but much of the complexity in these songs is cultural and to be explained, rather than operating under the assumption that music must be felt. It often feels like RAM is interested in producing symphonic music that requires listeners be attuned to subtle nuance as opposed to radio music made to resonate itself into popularity. Ultimately, however, that’s fine as Manman m Se Ginen is an enjoyable listen with great instrumentals and a great female singer.

Reviewed by Adolf Alzuphar