Changing labels from
Verve
to
Warner Bros.
and dropping any connection to his
neo-bop
past, trumpeter
Nicholas Payton
has crafted a
funk
-
jazz
album that unabashedly resurrects iconic trumpeter
Miles Davis
' wah-wah-laden
fusion
experiments
epitomized by his 1969 opus,
Bitches Brew
. More slavish to the period than trumpeter
Wallace Roney
's
No Room for Argument
, but no less
hip-hop
-influenced than trumpeter
Roy Hargrove
Hard Groove
,
Sonic Trance
is nonetheless far from your average major-label
release. Featuring saxophonist
Tim Warfield
, pianist
Kevin Hays
, bassist
Vicente Archer
, drummer
Adonis Rose
, and percussionist
Daniel Sadownick
, the group gains much au courant
aestheticism from the addition of drummer/producer extraordinaire
Karriem Riggins
. Besides performing with such heavy hitters as bassist
Ray Brown
and pianist
Mulgrew Miller
, the Detroit native has cut out a crossover niche for himself programming and producing in the
and
electronica
world, working most notably with rapper
Common
. He brings beats and soundscapes to
that elevate it to something that does feel somewhat new. Between
Hays
'
ambient
and expansive use of period keyboards,
Riggins
' deft
electronic
additions, and
Payton
's heavily effected horn, the overall sound can often become deliciously messy with organic sounds mixing into the synthetic. Musically,
sounds more energized than he has in years digging into the wah-wah with some nasty low-tone smears and multi-tone runs while celebrating
Afro-beat
legend
Fela Kuti
on
"Fela 1."
Similarly, he and
Warfield
take trad
to new heights interpolating the melody to
"Cannabis Leaf Rag"
like
Thelonious Monk
splitting an aperitif with
Jelly Roll Morton
at
Studio 54
. Of course, nothing
has done in the past can prepare you for his humorous and boisterous
dancehall
-style jibber-jabber rap on
"Shabba Unranked."
This isn't the totally innovative sound fans of forward-looking
may be waiting for, but just as the disciples of
Wynton Marsalis
re-explored/reinvented
bebop
and friends have turned their ears "out"-ward and could be on the path to a truly "new thing." ~ Matt Collar