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Afro Physicist
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Barnes and Noble
Afro Physicist
Current price: $52.99
Barnes and Noble
Afro Physicist
Current price: $52.99
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's third full-length album, the
-produced
, is an ambitious, stylistically wide-ranging album that showcases the jazz trumpeter's soulful post-bop chops, sophisticated arranging skills, and adventurous compositional style. The grandson of the late jazz trumpeter
and a graduate of Oberlin College,
is an accomplished musician with a deep musical reservoir to draw from. Working closely with
, with whom he has been performing regularly since 2009,
delves into a sound heavily informed by '70s soul-jazz, but which touches upon groove-oriented Latin jazz ("It's Not You, It's Me [But You Didn't Help]"), gargantuan keyboard and electric guitar-heavy jazz-funk ("Realize"), and atmospheric, dream-inducing modal jazz ("Visions," with vibraphonist
). There's also a subtle hip-hop and contemporary R&B influence running throughout most of
, primarily evident in the propulsive funky rhythms of drummer
. Even on the frenetic,
"The Fundamentals,"
finds common ground between late-'60s free bop and modern breakbeat dance music. Elsewhere,
showcases
(a vocal dynamo and journeyman bandleader with a charismatic stage swagger equivalent to
's drumming) on several numbers, including a midtempo '70s funk reworking of "Save Your Love for Me" and a Brazilian Carnival-ready take on the
classic "I Can't Help It." Blessed with a fluid, harmonically supple trumpet technique,
could easily monopolize the album. However, as evidenced by his collaborations with
,
is a confident and sympathetic accompanist with an ear for crafting a balanced, powerful group aesthetic. He's so confident, he even brings on firebrand trumpeter/singer
(clearly a huge influence on him) for the propulsive,
-penned contemporary bossa nova fusion number "Roy Allan." It's a bold, open-hearted statement that speaks to
's grounded sense of himself, a sense that permeates all of
. Ultimately, however, the palpable synergy and exuberant creative juice flowing between
and
here are what make
a truly alchemic experience. ~ Matt Collar