When
James Francies
delivered
Flight
, his acclaimed 2018
Blue Note
leader debut, the pianist and composer had already made a name for himself with fellow jazzmen
Stefon Harris
,
Pat Metheny
, and
Jeff "Tain" Watts
, as well as producer
Mark Ronson
the Roots
Lauryn Hill
.
Francies
, a Houston, Texas native, shares (with many of his generation's musical peers) a willingness to extend the parameters of modern jazz with harmonics, textures, and dynamics grafted from R&B, hip-hop, electronic, and pop forms. But unlike them,
' musical iconography disregards artificially imposed genre boundaries because he understands they are all linked parts of the Western scale and system. He can stretch, reshape, and break rules because he understands just how large the umbrella is.
The musical backbone on
Purest Form
is created by
with longtime Houston compatriots bassist
Burniss Travis
and drummer
Jeremy Dutton
. Further, he enlisted his labelmates, alto saxophonist
Immanuel Wilkins
and vibraphonist
Joel Ross
, as well as guitarist
Mike Moreno
and vocalists
Elliott Skinner
Peyton
Bilal
.
Opener "Adoration" is a brief soundscape on which
' piano is framed by blurry electronic keyboards and his wife
Brenda Francies
reading a poem. It's a tad disorienting, but strangely elegant. "Levitate" showcases the trio aggressively engaging with interlocking rhythmic pulses and harmonic vamps as overdubbed pianos and careening synths drive, and are driven by, rumbling basslines, triple-timed drums, and skittering loops. "Transfiguration" weaves fleet piano figures through euphoric modalism and modern classical composition as wordless vocals, ambient keys, and the rhythm section elevate them then jarringly interrupt.
Wilkins
enters with his alto and pushes the whole track toward transcendence.
, another Houston native, lends her sultry voice to the dreamy, post-spiritual soul in "Blown Away," while
Elliot Skinner
's vocal governs a central meld of soul, gospel, and pop in the lilting ballad "Rose Water." The inclusion of "My Favorite Things'' here is anything but standard. Delivered with a choppy double-timed tempo, it's chock-full of tight twists and turns from the trio with
Ross
Moreno
. Everyone offers inspired solos for this wildly inventive reading on stun. "Stratus" finds
and his keyboards engaging a string quartet before getting atmospheric and funky on the summery, futurist jazz-funk that is "713" (a Houston area code). "Where We Stand" is woolly, spidery, tripped-out, electro post-bop with
and
adding heft to the trio. Its knotty syncopated rhythms recall
Varese
and electro producer
Kaidi Tatham
, while the twin influences of
Andrew Hill
Zappa
are reflected in its intricately rendered harmonic approach. "Eyes Wide Shut" features
in a collision of vanguard jazz, gritty indie rock, and neo-soul.
is far more diverse -- and unsettling -- than its predecessor, but in all the right ways.
showcases his vast creativity and imagination with uncommon breadth and depth in cutting across artificial boundary lines while integrating them in a bold new music of his own design. ~ Thom Jurek