John Carroll Kirby’s Septet

Few key players have amassed a more impressive musical resume than John Carroll Kirby over the past decade. With credits that include Grammy-nominated recordings by Norah Jones (“Chasing Pirates) and Solange (A Seat at the Table, including a synthesizer on “Cranes in the Sky”), as well as The Avalanches (“We Will Always Love You”), Bat for Lashes (Lost Girls), Blood Orange (Freetown Sound), Eddie Chacon (Pleasure, Joy and Happiness), Miley Cyrus (Plastic Hearts), Frank Ocean (“DHL”), Harry Styles ("Canyon Moon") and more, his versatility as a composer and session player are beyond reproach. As a solo musician, his output has been more muted, but just as tasteful, including the lush Travel, released in connection with Shabazz Palaces, the pensive, piano-driven Tuscany and the meditative Conflict and My Garden, both released on Stones Throw Records.

Returning again to Stones Throw, this time as a band leader, the lively Septet broaches yet another sonic frontier for Kirby, masterfully drawing on the keyboardist’s new age and R&B sensibilities to produce a transporting cosmic jazz outing. Septet is truly an ensemble effort, drawing on the talents of Tracy Wannomae and Logan Hone (woodwinds), Nick Mancini (mallets), John Paul Maramba (bass), Deantoni Parks (drums) and David Leach (percussion) to conjure an atmosphere not unlike those evoked by Herbie Hancock’s early fusion work of the 1970s. This is exemplified on highlights like the tone setting “Rainmaker,” marimba buoyed “Sensing Not Seeing,” and placating polyrhythms of closing track “Nucleo (Boy From the Prebiotic Birth).” “Swallow Tail” sports a groove so easy it might as well be a lazy Sunday afternoon, while the delightfully warped “P64 By My Side” finds Kirby lending dramatic background shading via synthesizer. Indeed, so subtle is Kirby’s touch on the album’s early compositions that his emergence for a gnarly solo on “Weep” or delicious noodling on “Jubilee Horns” and “The Quest of Chico Hamilton” are all the more impactful. Idyllic from start to finish, Kirby has produced one of the year’s most pleasurable listens to date for fans of any genre.

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If you like Septet, check out:

• Overstand by Apifera

• Mwandishi by Herbie Hancock

• Bring Backs by Alfa Mist

• Marching In The Street by Harvey Mason

• ALG0 by Triorität