Funky The Message

The Stanley Clarke Band moniker goes back at least as far as 1985's electro-funk-inflected Find Out!, and picked up in earnest with 2010's eponymously titled The Stanley Clarke Band. The only real through-line, however, is virtuoso bass pioneer Clarke, who leads his ever-evolving bands through what are usually a stylistically varied set of songs that touch upon driving jazz-fusion, funky crossover jams, harmonically nuanced acoustic modal bop, and even forays into classical. It's a cross-pollinated vibe he championed on 2014's Up and one he returns to with conceptual gusto on 2018's expansive The Message. Joining him are pianist Beka Gochiashvili (who previously played Up), keyboardist Cameron Graves, and drummer Mike Mitchell.

The second full-length from sacred steel genius Robert Randolph & the Family Band delivers, from the studio, the same promise, grit, grease, and sweat that Live at the Wetlands did. Randolph pulls out the stops in the studio, using his own band, without any of the hotshot guest stars who he's appeared with in the last two years. Unclassified features a road-tested, studio-savvy band using all of its collected gifts with producer Jim Scott to make a record that is as much about soul, funk, hard rock, folk, and jam band intensity as it is about the gospel music that first inspired the unit.