What It Is!

Thundercat is set to release his new album “It Is What It Is” on Brainfeeder Records on April 3, 2020. The album, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox.

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals - Call It What It Is (2016) {Stax-Concord Music STX-35697-02}
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© 2016 Ben Harper / Stax / Concord Music | STX-35697-02
Rock / Blues Rock / Adult Alternative Rock / Soul

It took Ben Harper nine years to reconvene the Innocent Criminals for 2016's Call It What It Is, but that's not necessarily an abnormally long time for this crew: eight years separated its 2007 predecessor Lifeline from their 2009 debut, Burn to Shine. Harper formed the Innocent Criminals partially with the intention that they'd be his Band of Gypsies, a support system for him to indulge in his Jimi Hendrix daydreams, but they wound up being an even better outlet for his soulful side. Despite "Pink Balloon" and the ham-fisted opener "When Sex Was Dirty" – bluesy bluster that pulls this closer to Lenny Kravitz than Hendrix – Call It What It Is is largely devoted to this blissed-out, mellow vibe.

Ed Blackwell Project - What It Is? (1993) {Enja ENJ-7089 2}
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© 1993 Enja | ENJ-7089 2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Drums

Despite his failing health, Blackwell's skills on his drum kit were razor-sharp when he got on the bandstand for this headliner's gig at the third annual Eddie Moore Memorial Jazz Festival, recorded at Yoshi's in Oakland, CA. just two months before he passed away. Everything clicks – the band is tight, powered by the supple bass of Mark Helias, while saxophonist/flutist Carlos Ward and trumpeter Graham Haynes play inspired, almost possessed improvs and written lines, bent on giving the audience their best, and Blackwell the proper setting to weave his percussive wizardry. First up are pieces written by Ward. "'Nette," sporting a bright unison horn line, suggests Monk's angularity and Ornette Coleman's interval-leaping vision of expansion.

The long established musical relationship between guitarists Dave Specter and Steve Freund goes back nearly 20 years, when Specter sought out Freund as a guitar teacher. They have shared many stages, but this marks the first occasion that they have recorded together. In the best of the Chicago blues tradition as illustrated by the legendary Delmark label, Is What It Is is a loose, swinging, tough blues date filled with great tunes, inspired playing and loose-groove vibes. While Specter has become well-known for his jazzy blues playing, his former teacher Freund has stayed close to the roots of the Chicago sound. That contrast works beautifully here on both covers and originals. Freund's tunes are some of the bets on the set as evidenced by the opener "My Little Playhouse." One of the reasons for this is his deep, clear soulful singing which adds punch and nuance to the dueling guitars Specter brings classy elegance to the set in his instrumentals, like the title track that carries a deeply Southern-fried funk to the more urban Chicago sound and the shuffling gutbucket stroll of "Riverside Ride," where the two players wind around and through one another exuberantly.