Keyon Harrold: Foreverland

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

plus guest stars Common (v)
Chris Dave (d)
Robert Glasper (p, ky)
Marcus Gilmore (d)
Jahari Stampley (p, ky)
PJ Morton (v)
Randy Runyon (g)
Nil Felder (g)
Malaya (v)
Jean Baylor (v)
Burniss Travis (b)
Laura Mvula (v)
BIGYUKI (p, ky)
Greg Phillinganes (p, ky)
Shederick Mitchell (p, ky)
Jahi Sundance (turntables)
Brandon Owens (b)
Keyon Harrold (t, v)
Justus West (g)

Label:

Concord Records

February/2024

Media Format:

CD, 2 LP, DL

Catalogue Number:

7242812

RecordDate:

Rec. date not stated

On Foreverland, trumpeter and vocalist Keyon Harrold straddles two distinct worlds. The first – chilled-out, vocal-led R&B – dominates, with an assortment of more instrumental-focused Latin grooves, balladry and modern straight-ahead jazz playing a minor role.

After a long period of being a go-to trumpeter for high-profile gigs across hip-hop and pop, Harrold predictably enlists some heavy talent; Laura Mvula and Chris Dave join for the title track, while Robert Glasper and rapper Common feature on opener ‘Find Your Peace’, the latter delivering a stuttering flow of word games around an optimistic, vocoder-ish chorus. It rather sets the tone for what’s to come: melody is central, out-and-out improvisation less so. The general tone is close to Glasper’s early Experiment records – especially with Glasper’s rippling comping, and Harrold’s Casey Benjamin-esque vocals.

Though Harrold won’t win too many awards for his lyrics on this album – in contrast to The Mugician, his more direct previous album – his trumpet playing is unquestionably powerful. He lets rip on ‘The Intellectual’, where his tone is fulsome, and his language imaginative, even if not all parts gel with the stylistic left turn.

I listened to the album just as people's annual ‘Spotify Wrapped’ statistics were rebounding around the internet. There’s no doubt the tracks from Foreverland will prove extremely popular when heard separately on streaming platforms, but a whole album dominated by that vibe proves to be a slog.

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