Jahari Massamba Unit
is the very occasional collaborative recording project between producer/mixologist/multi-instrumentalist
Madlib
and jazz/hip-hop drummer/producer
Karriem Riggins
. The duo's first appearance was on the trippy post-bop of "Umoja," from 2004's stellar future jazz outing
Yesterdays Universe
. They reassembled as
JMU
for cuts on 2010's
High Jazz
.
Pardon My French
is an exploration and statement of Afro-futurist jazz refracted through hip-hop, vanguard, Eastern and Latin influences, and funk. The track titles offer abundant uses of profanity and wine references, deliberately juxtaposing high and low culture; this is a carefully plotted and executed release. Opener "Je Prendrai le Romanee-Conti (Putain de Leroy)" commences with abstracted synths and upright bass -- a la the earliest
Weather Report
excursions -- stuttering, bleating trumpet, rolling tom-toms, and cymbals; it sets the frame for exploration. As "Les Jardins Esmeraldins (Pour Caillard)" emerges,
Riggins
' kit introduces a theme framed by double bass, modal piano, and a wandering soulful flute (a la
Yusef Lateef
's
Eastern Sounds
). The album's centerpiece is "Du Morgon au Moulin-a-Vent (Pour Duke)," a nine-plus-minute jam introduced by the sound of running water, incessantly rolling tom-toms, crystalline vibraphone, and acoustic guitar. Its long intro is anchored by a two-chord piano vamp, and the track eventually weds post-bop, Latin and Brazilian jazz, exotic percussion, and squalling trombone, all before
Jackie Earley
recites a brief poem.
' drums are key. Check the hypnotic snare patterns at the center of "Trou du Cul (Ode au Sommelier Arrogant)," where electric bass lines, atmospheric samples, and jaw harp swirl around them. The funk formally enters on "Etude Montrachet," as sub-bass effects frame a syncopated, reverbed drum kit shuffle, and organ, electric piano, and synths cascade in sequence around a rubbery bass line.
is the bedrock on "Merde (Basse-cour)," with a zigzagging snare/hi-hat shuffle atop wobbly synth effects, electric piano, and multi-tracked souled-out flutes. The drummer's phase-shifted kit makes up the front half of "Inestimable le Clos," which expands to include didgeridoo, Latin and Brazilian rhythms, multi-tracked piano, fretless bass, reeds, and brass, surrounded by a swelling B-3. It sounds like a cross between an outtake from
Santana
Caravanserai
and a cop movie soundtrack. That exotic yet meaty jazz-funk vibe persists in "La Closerie (Pour Prevost)," with striated sci-fi synths, punchy soprano sax, and a driving electric bass line. It eases into the head-nodding closer "Hommage a la Vielle Garde (Pour Lafarge et Rinaldi)," which reworks funky grooves from fusion-era
Frank Zappa
,
CTI
-period
Milt Jackson
, and late-'70s
Herbie Hancock
with punchy trombone and tenor sax. Abstraction is part and parcel of
's complex musical identity; with
' use of modal forms of jazz and funk, they expand their influences to emerge as a band.
flows seamlessly from jazz's outer limits to the club on Saturday night, slipping all box-confining definitions. It's difficult to pin down to be sure, but extremely listenable as a mind-blowing experiment to encounter and absorb. The future is now. ~ Thom Jurek