Katalyst: Jazz Is Dead Series 2: Katalyst JID013
Author: Hugh Morris
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Corbin Jones (b) |
Label: |
Jazz Is Dead |
Magazine Review Date: |
September/2022 |
Media Format: |
CD, DL |
Catalogue Number: |
JID013 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. date not stated |
Los Angeles-based group Katalyst Collective has been around since 2014, with backing dates for Gary Bartz and Roy Ayers on the influential Jazz is Dead label. Here, they team up with JID founders Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad for their own, hip-hop influenced date.
The album is the definition of ‘a slow burner’, meandering through a couple of hazy summertime cuts with hints of Gary Bartz and Alfa Mist. Then, something clicks into place on ‘Summer Solstice’, and it transforms into a really interesting addition to the increasingly saturated world of West Coast groove music. ‘Juneteenth’ has all the jubilant drive you’d hope for given the title, ‘Dogon Cypher’ is a gnarly synth-funk jam straight out of a West Coast Get Down set, before a return to the more relaxed energy of the opening on ‘Reflections’. The livelier moments of the album are definitely the more interesting, but the Katalyst clan are certainly ones to watch out for – special mention for the trombone/piano skills of Jonah Levine.

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