Graft

Reviewed: 2018-08-09
Genre: Jazz (X)
FCCs: possible on #3
Review: Hailed by The New York Times for its “startling mash of natural and synthetic, resonant and fractured,” and by JazzTimes for “transcending the concept of idiom altogether,” Thiefs returns with Graft, an evocative odyssey informed by jazz, hip-hop, electronic, experimental music and more. The subject matter, so pertinent in this political moment, is identity, dislocation, migration, and otherness. “‘Graft’ is the idea of being augmented, stripped bare, transformed by cultural experiences, by places, by the movement of people,” bassist and co-leader Keith Witty explains. “It refers to the mixing of roots, sometimes violently, sometimes quietly and unremarkably.”
If You Like: Public Enemy, Capt. Beefheart, Ben Lamar Gay,
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
*1/ The Limbs They Acquired Over Years And Continents (1:50) – dissonant drone starts> midtempo noise jam> mellows & fades
**2/ I Live In Fear (5:08) – synth starts with throbbing notes> slow rap song with male vocal builds to midtempo> brief sax solo> midtempo rap over wailing sax & synth> quick stop
3/ Fields (4:40) – electric piano starts> loud pounding rhythm & rap> pretty melody on electric piano & song with male vocal> loud pounding rap> pretty electric piano solo> & song> loud pounding rap> quick stop
*4/ Pas D’Ici (3:36) – percussion starts> slow jam with sax out front> rap in French with male vocal> fade on synth
*5/ Iwbah (4:14) – bass starts> slow meditative jam with sax out front builds in volume & gets frenetic> fade
6/ Beat One (7:34) – drum beats start> slow rap with hesitant jam underneath> celestial chorus joins> midtempo instrumental jam morphs into space jam & slows to spoken word with piano accompaniment, then builds into call & response over midtempo space jam & fades
7/ Anthro (4:44) – drums start> midtempo song with male vocal> slow space jam> song> quick stop
8/ Pas D’Ici (Part ll) – electric piano starts> spoken word poem with male vocal> fade
*9/ Make a Fist (2:44) – sax starts> slow jam with sax out front> quick stop
**10/ The Leaf Node (4:20) – bass starts> midtempo rap in French with male vocal> instrumental space jam> rap> jam> rap> jam>
11/ Pas D’Ici (Part lll) (2:11) – bass starts> slow jam with sax up front> slow fade