Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings

 

Title: Universal Beings
Artist: Makaya McCraven
Label: International Anthem
Formats: CD, LP. Digital
Release date: October 25, 2018

 

Jazz drummer Makaya McCraven could not possibly have predicted that the release date of his new album, Universal Beings, would coincide with a week of domestic terrorist acts fueled by racism, anti-semitism, and anti-immigration hysteria. Though his album’s “all-encompassing message of unity, peace & power” would be welcome at any time, it is particularly transformative at this moment as a reminder of our shared humanity and the need to bridge cultural divides. Continue reading

Eric Valentine & Velvet Groove – Velvet Groove

Velvet Groove
Title: Velvet Groove

Artist: Eric Valentine & Velvet Groove

Label: Matcha Entertainment

Formats: CD, MP3

Release date: February 14, 2018

 

 

This Valentine’s Day the acclaimed contemporary jazz drummer Eric Valentine will be releasing his newest album, Velvet Groove, a collection of urban contemporary jazz he describes as “music you can feel…a sound full of different moods and textures.” Joining him on this project is an all-star cast of musicians including saxophonists Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot, trumpet player Rick Braun, plus Adam Hawley and Darrell Crooks on guitar, Brian Simpson and Allyn Johnson on piano, and many other guests. The multi-talented Valentine also contributes vocals, keyboards, and bass.

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The 13-track album offers ten full songs and three reprises that are filled with vibrant melodies and deft rhythms. Some tracks, like “E. Love” and “Back in the Day,” also include soulful vocals sung by B. Valentine, Eric’s wife. The only song on the album not written or co-written by Valentine himself is a fresh take on Stevie Wonder’s “Joy Inside My Tears.” This track was given a more celebratory feel while still including members of Wonder’s horn section in the arrangement.

To Valentine and the other contributors to the album, Velvet Groove is more than its hypnotic harmonies and smooth jazz instrumentals—it’s a movement “to make people feel love, joy and happiness, using musical gifts to inspire and uplift.”

Reviewed by Chloe McCormick

 

Paa Kow – Cookpot

Cookpot
Title: Cookpot

Artist: Paa Kow

Label: Paa Kow Music

Formats: CD, LP, MP3

Release Date: October 13, 2017

 

 

Ghana-born drummer Paa Kow’s new self-released album, Cookpot, presents the listener with a wide range of influences. Paa Kow, who now resides in Colorado, has been performing since he was seven years old, and he initially gained fame in his native Ghana as the “Small-boy Drummer.” His virtuosity as a drummer is always present throughout the 13-track release, along with a unique stylistic amalgam of several genres. First and foremost, there is the stylistic influence of highlife, which is to be expected given his heritage and the music’s origins in Ghana. The listener unfamiliar with highlife could easily assume that Cookpot is a Caribbean release, and that assumption would not be entirely unfounded due to the fact that highlife has been heavily influenced by Afro-Caribbean music such as calypso.

The opening track, “The Way I Feel,” begins as a standard funk tune, but it ultimately separates itself through Paa Kow’s impressive drum fills and a B section that is both heavily syncopated and laden with stop-time accents. Accompanied by some stellar electric piano playing, “The Way I Feel” would be at home on one of Herbie Hancock’s funk albums. It is a track that sounds as if Herbie recorded an album with a Ghanaian drummer.

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The title track is deceptive. Its fusion of styles—world, jazz, and funk—is so seamless that it is easy to forget that it isn’t just a funk song. Like what can happen with a good meal, the end product often masks the flavor of each individual ingredient. “Cookpot,” then, is a fitting title for this track. Also mixing ingredients, “Forced Landing” is the most glaring example of the fusion of styles on this album. What begins as a jazz tune with an intro trumpet solo switches time signatures and transforms into a highlife song before ultimately changing time signatures again and settling into a funk groove. It is essentially three songs merged into one.

One of the standout tracks on the album is “African Lady,” which along with “Lonely” and “Pete Pete,” are the most highlife-influenced tracks on the album. “African Lady” is an upbeat tune with a complex rhythmic pattern laid out cooperatively by the drums, guitar, and keyboard. Drummers will find this to be an inspirational performance along with the track “Details,” featuring a solo where Paa Kow demonstrates his impeccable technique on the drum set.

Collectively, this album’s focus is drum-centric, and it offers up a great deal of rhythmic complexity. Nevertheless, throughout the recording there are some first-rate solos from the keyboard player, guitar player, and horn players. The combination of styles creates a unique product in that this is not the typical jazz-funk album. Paa Kow has thrown a variety of ingredients into his cookpot, and the result is an album that is equal parts jazz, funk, and highlife. Anyone who possesses a stylistically wide palette would be remiss to not listen to Cookpot, and those who enjoy listening to a virtuosic drummer cannot afford to pass this one up.

Reviewed by Joel Roberts