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's
Hard Groove,
Sonic Trance is nonetheless far from your average major-label
jazz release. Featuring saxophonist
Tim Warfield, pianist
Kevin Hays, bassist
Vicente Archer, drummer
Adonis Rose, and percussionist
Daniel Sadownick, the group gains much au courant
hip-hop 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
hip-hop and
electronica world, working most notably with rapper
Common. He brings beats and soundscapes to
Sonic Trance 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,
Payton 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
jazz 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
Payton 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
jazz may be waiting for, but just as the disciples of
Wynton Marsalis re-explored/reinvented
bebop,
Payton and friends have turned their ears "out"-ward and could be on the path to a truly "new thing." ~ Matt Collar
