Instrumentals JID009

by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge

Overview

Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad's studio extension of the Jazz Is Dead concert series seemed audacious -- even by the musicians' prolific standard -- when it was launched in March 2020 with Jazz Is Dead 001. Inside 18 months, that preview of Younge and Muhammad's album-length collaborations with inspirational trailblazers was followed with seven additional volumes. In the same period, the duo were behind the scores for Run This Town and Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James, and LPs by Angela Munoz and Loren Oden. Younge also put together The American Negro. "Did Adrian and Ali just release something?" became as silly a question as "Is KRS-One hip-hop" or "Are Maze on tour?" Instrumentals JID009 might come across as a gratuitous addition, a way to hasten the justification of the project's triple-digit numbering system. Instead, it's a generous supplement that forms an apt set of bookends with Jazz Is Dead 001. The hour-plus program simply provides instrumental versions of vocal cuts from Roy Ayers JID002, Marcos Valle JID003, Gary Bartz JID006, and Joao Donato 007. No new compositions are in the mix. The tracks are ordered with evident thoughtfulness, and without voices, the set is both optimized for zoning out and ripe for sampling. It's all fairly methodical. Showcased instrumentalists and co-composers Ayers (vibraphone), Valle (Fender Rhodes), Bartz (alto sax), and Donato (also Rhodes) play only their main instrument. Apart from a drumming rotation of Greg Paul, Aaron Serfaty, and Malachi Morehead, and an enlivening appearance on "Sunflowers" from trombonist Phil Ranelin and tenor saxophonist Wendell Harrison (both of Detroit's Tribe collective), Younge and Muhammad play everything. The elders are sometimes closer to cogs than showcased players, but Younge and Muhammad always make the influence of their vintage work apparent. For instance, Bartz's freeway- to skyway-traveling cuts sound equally comparable to the saxophonist's contrasting recordings with Ntu Troop and Larry and Fonce Mizell, and the beatific Ayers material could be mistaken for resuscitations of fine outtakes from the vibraphonist's '70s Polydor era. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	10/01/2021
Label:	JAZZ IS DEAD
UPC:	4062548020847

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Adrian Younge   Primary Artist,Drums,Flute,Marimba,Clavinet,Mellotron,Percussion,Sax (Alto),Vibraphone,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Piano (Grand),Tubular Bells,Sax (Baritone),Bass (Electric),Clarinet (Bass),Organ (Hammond),Sax (Sopranino),Guitar (Electric)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad   Primary Artist,Piano (Grand),Tubular Bells,Drums,Flute,Marimba,Clavinet,Mellotron,Percussion,Sax (Alto),Vibraphone,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Sax (Baritone),Bass (Electric),Clarinet (Bass),Organ (Hammond),Sax (Sopranino),Guitar (Electric)
Greg Paul   Drums,Percussion
Malachi Morehead   Drums
Joao Donato   Fender Rhodes,Featured Artist
Wendell Harrison   Sax (Tenor)
Roy Ayers   Vibraphone,Featured Artist
Aaron Serfaty   Drums
Gary Bartz   Sax (Alto),Featured Artist
Phil Ranelin   Trombone
Marcos Valle   Fender Rhodes,Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Adam Block   Associate Producer
Adrian Younge   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Julian Montague   Graphic Design
Joao Donato   Composer
Roy Ayers   Composer
Ali Shaheed Muhammad   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Andrew Lojero   Executive Producer
Dave Cooley   Mastering
Gary Bartz   Composer
Marcos Valle   Composer