A conversation about jazz, London, and origins with great fusion duo, Yussef Kamaal

For a fusion jazz trio inhabiting the Supreme’d and Stussied costumes of normal early 20-somethings, BadBadNotGood boast extraordinary talent. Beyond preternaturally refined chops, they have a patience that affords their songs a natural ebb and flow — the same one mastered by their smoked-out and sedated forebears. The time signatures on “Velvet” alternate between the […]

Good music rarely comes from staring at Tumblr as though it were a telescope. Most Internet movements perish within a single press cycle because they lack a core or any cohesive ideas. They’re usually an unbaked synthesis of loose aesthetic cues being reblogged until no one likes it anymore. Beyond high-powered semi-legal narcotics, Los Angeles […]

The sales pitch reads: The Soft Machine meets Flying Lotus. And as far as billboards go, that’s one of those things that makes you willing to drive off the highway and purchase copious souvenir trinkets and dream catchers. But The Breathing Effect aren’t aiming towards ephemera. This is meditative and well-marinated, soulful jazz fusion in […]

Signed to the 95 percent free-throw shooting imprint Innovative Leisuire, BADBADNOTGOOD continue their impressive evolution. If you’ve been following the inscrutable jazz-hop fusion crew for a while, you might be floored by their growth from “Lemonade” and OF covers. They always had chops, but now they’ve learned the sneaky skills that separate good from great: […]

To the average music fan under 40, George Duke might have been a footnote. He was the guy who made “Seeing You” that was sampled by Big K.R.I.T. (“Yesterday”) and Hiero (“You Never Knew.“) Or maybe you know him as the inspiration for Thudercat’s cover of “For Love (I Come Your Friend.”). The latter cut […]