Public Service

Even when floating through space, the Bad Plus remember to strike a pose.

J Dillalude
Robert Glasper
In My Element
Blue Note : 2007
[Listen] [Buy]

1980 World Champion
The Bad Plus
Prog
Blue Note : 2007
[Listen] [Pre-Order]

Bamboo Pants
John Medeski and Billy Martin
Mago
Amulet Records : 2007
[Listen] [Buy]

Every once in a while, the public service side of JT needs a little breathing room, a little time in the sun to grab that Vitamin D and replenish. As such, there's a lot of good music in the offing for the rest of this year, and I know I'm not the only one geeked out about it. We've seen snippets so far, but there's much more for '07. Here, I present another couple of samples of what to expect.

---
Robert Glasper is the next wave of piano jazz on Blue Note, and his trio serves up a touching, beautifully-stated tribute to the late J-Dilla. It's a stop-start combination of recognizable Dilla beats, including a Glasper take on Dilla's sample of "Swahililand" by Ahmad Jamal. Glasper's albums to date have been gorgeous, projecting him as another soulful, passionate face of the modern jazz world. Pick this up pronto -- this LP came out at the tail end of March.

---
The Bad Plus, another renegade jazz trio outfit, serve up entirely different meals. They're easily the best live show I've ever seen, and I've seen them more than once as a result. TBP should be required listening for the I-think-I-know-music set, perhaps giving a firm wake-up to any self-proclaimed sound disciple. Incendiary, perception-shattering shit. [Sorry, eloquence has no place here, I love this band too much so the raw feelings must flood out]

Their new album promises more fireworks, and this track is pleasure to me. I saw them play a couple of these new tracks a few times last year, during the Brooklyn summer concerts and at their Village Vanguard residency, and the more I heard them, the more I wished they were on their new album at the time, Suspicious Activity? Alas, that LP came out, and they were not to be found, and so all I had was my memories of the earth-shattering syncopation tricks they pull on each other, dragging that noise up, down and all around the park, beating it, toying with it and finally pulling the trigger.

This is the culmination of their "athlete" theme [remember the other dotted throughout past LPs? 1972 Bronze Medalist? 1979 Semi-Finalist?], and it's pure fire again. King's rapid shuffle beat pulls you along like a wild horse that's escaped the field, backed by handclaps, and Reid Anderson's groovy, understated bass lines.

On a few listens, I'm still getting into it; their cover song choices are weird and fantastic as usual [ESPECIALLY the version of the Tears for Fears 80s classic "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"], but it's growing on me by the second.

---
To top it off, a track from the brand-new duets album by two-thirds of MMW, the MM bit. Medeski and Martin recorded this LP in a couple of summer days last year, and the results are satisfying to say the least. It's hard to listen to this and not think that it's somehow incomplete, just because it's always been the norm to hear the three of them get down and dirty on tape together. However, putting that weird sense of melancholy aside, the duo find nastiness around every corner. Medeski's B3 and pedals provide the gurgling, guttural low end in Wood's absence, and Billy Martin's beats are as machine gun and high-octane as ever.

---
Also, a brief PSA: I know we've been slow lately, but fret not. All of us are floating around in weird transitional periods, getting new jobs, working harder, finding time for love or carnal pleasures, not to mention trying to find a suitable NYC launchpad for global FmGT operations. It's weird, it's made us all a little slow and gelatinous, but we'll pick up the slack. I don't know how else to explain it, but we still love you all.

Double Also: to those of you lucky enough to make it to Galapagos on Friday night, hope you had fun. Codec tore it up, the potables were potent, and the lineup of bands made it an excellent night. We look forward to further future opportunities.

Now run along. Silent K will open his yap tomorrow.