JazzHop
Revolution- Tha Sound of Truth
Planet Arts Recordings
Review by Peter Aaron
Hudson Valley jazz bassist John Lindberg
had been, to say the least, a hip-hop non-believer—until
he caught the award-winning 2002 film The Beat, starring
rapper/actor Rahman Jamaal. Blown away by the California MC’s
infectious flow and biting wordage, Lindberg immediately sought
him out to collaborate, drafting in area drummer Tani Tabbal.
The resulting session (with bonus DVD) is a bold experiment
that works well—but not in the way a great jazz or hip
hop record does.
As freeform as rapping can get, it still
requires rhythmic delivery; it’s not the same as singing,
where a vocalist can “bend” words the way an instrumentalist
does notes (think of King Pleasure’s setting of lyrics
to bebop solos). Conversely, though jazz is based on a solid
blues foundation, it’s not jazz per se without mutual
improvisation. To really play together, the jazzers have to
stiffen up to support the rapper or the rapper has to unravel
his or her cadences to effectively play off the instrumental
vamps and solos. So while there is, however, some cool call
and response between Jamaal and the jazzmen on “Da Truth,”
and several pieces do feature lengthy solo intros, as a creative
proposition Tha Sound of Truth is more or less a
draw.
But that’s okay. Because this project
is about finding the middle ground, rather than assimilating
one genre into the other. And it sounds good, especially when
Jamaal spits his acerbic, machine-gun rhymes over Lindberg’s
insistent arco on the swaggering “Money.” To fans
of the TV comedian, the band’s moniker will surely bring
to mind the urban culture send-up “Stephen Colbert’s
Hiphopketball: A Jazzerbration”—only without the basketball
part, of course. www.jazzhoprevolution.com.
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