High Water

Melodic, accessible pieces with hip-hop beats and idioms. It's El-P producing the "Blue Series Continuum" band of free-jazzers, led by Matthew Shipp's darkly crystalline piano, for a sound much like Thirsty Ear's other Blue Series disks.

The music tends to be simple and the band's improv/free-jazz chops are a subtle add-in, kept away from the foreground. That helps build an effective atmosphere, darkly cool-handed, with a sense of drama and melancholy in most tracks.

7- The centerpiece: Samples of jazz singer Harry Keys (El-P's father) over mid/fast trip-hop beats. Sentimental and sad, really grabs at your heart.

1,8 - Instrumentals based on #7
2- Stormy piano theme, builds to a strong drama
3- Slowly jaunty with a hard beat
4- Good soloing over catchy midtempo theme
5- Spiky pecking piano
6- Mid/fast, scattery piano