7. R+R=Now - Collagically Speaking
Genre(s): Improvised Multi-Genre Jazz, Hip-Hop
Sounds Like: Weather Report, Return To Forever, Tomasz Stanko Quartet, Snarky Puppy, Robert Glasper Experiment
A dreamy, difficult to describe jazz smorgasborg of great ideas and spontaneous eruptive power, completely improvised in studio by some of the most accomplished guys in the new jazz era. You've got Robert Glasper on piano, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass, and a whole host of others who really bring their A-game. In some ways, this album is everything Kamasi Washington wants to be but can't quite get his grip around: some of the best players in the world coming together into a cosmic sort of synthesis with no pretensions.
But what's so interesting overall here is how good the songs ended up becoming once they got into studio. 'Change Of Tone' is a delicious opening vamp, featuring some of Glasper's best key exploration in conjunction with some Herbie Hancock-esque vocoder work from the masterful Terrace Martin, who also lends some nice lyrical flow to the smooth yet vibrant 'Reflect Reprise' on side 2. And those are just two great songs of many here!
Needless to say, this was my favorite jazz-anything experience of the year. Touches all the sweet spots (modal, fusion, nu-jazz, jazz rap) and somehow weaves it all together into something cohesive and spectacular all at once.