Jahari Massamba Unit
Pardon My French
Album - Fusion, Music, Jazz
The first album by Dilla collaborators Madlib and Karriem Riggins as the Jahari Massamba Unit joins music by contemporaries like Jeff Parker and Angel Bat Dawid in reframing jazz for audiences raised on hip-hop. The clearest influence here is the dense, cosmic sound of ’70s artists like Bennie Maupin (“Du Morgon Au Moulin-À-Vent [Pour Duke]”), Alice Coltrane (“Les Jardins Esméraldins [Pour Caillard]”), and Miles Davis (“Trou Du Cul [Ode Au Sommelier Arrogant]”). But while jazz has historically focused on documenting the conversation between instrumentalists, Madlib and Riggins—the former of whom is best known for his work in underground hip-hop, the latter of whom has produced for Common and Erykah Badu but also played drums for Diana Krall and Norah Jones—foreground groove and mood, simple subjects both artists have yet to exhaust in their 20-plus-year careers.
Pardon My French
Jahari Massamba Unit
The first album by Dilla collaborators Madlib and Karriem Riggins as the Jahari Massamba Unit joins music by contemporaries like Jeff Parker and Angel Bat Dawid in reframing jazz for audiences raised on hip-hop. The clearest influence here is the dense, cosmic sound of ’70s artists like Bennie Maupin (“Du Morgon Au Moulin-À-Vent [Pour Duke]”), Alice Coltrane (“Les Jardins Esméraldins [Pour Caillard]”), and Miles Davis (“Trou Du Cul [Ode Au Sommelier Arrogant]”). But while jazz has historically focused on documenting the conversation between instrumentalists, Madlib and Riggins—the former of whom is best known for his work in underground hip-hop, the latter of whom has produced for Common and Erykah Badu but also played drums for Diana Krall and Norah Jones—foreground groove and mood, simple subjects both artists have yet to exhaust in their 20-plus-year careers.
