Jahari Massamba Unit – YHWH is LOVE (2024) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Jahari Massamba Unit – YHWH is LOVE (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 47:24 minutes | 515 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Law of Rhythm

Madlib and Karriem Riggins, two renowned names in the world of music production, have once again united to form the creative alliance “Jahari Massamba Unit” and proudly present their new project “YHWH is LOVE”. This marks their first joint release since the album “Pardon My French” from 2020. Here are the first two singles from this project.

Yhwh Is Love is the second long-player from the team of Madlib (Otis Jackson) and Karriem Riggins as Jahari Massamba Unit. Their first, 2020’s Pardon My French, got high marks from journos and punters. Album credits put Riggins on drums and Madlib on everything else (though, in typical fashion, what he played versus what he sampled is unclear). Riggins sent his partner a veritable truckload of loops and beats. Madlib, in inimitable fashion, grafted on his playing and an abundance of samples. The musical vibe is laid-back, grooving contemporary jazz-funk.
Opener “Rubato Love” is a brief intro filled with airy glittering synths, pianos, and keyboard bass; Riggins’ ringing cymbals add dimension and grace. His snare break initiates “Stomping Gamay” as layered flute samples erect a motif while the bassline and syncopated drums carry a finger-popping groove. The electric piano frames overdubbed flutes and a sonically altered alto saxophone. “All Things” is almost a straight-ahead ballad save for the dubby rhythm effects, out-of-phase trumpet, and languishing vibes. That said, it makes the case for an Afrofuturist take on West Coast jazz.
Much of the utterly groove-oriented Yhwh Is Love is a fitting companion to Madlib’s 2021 solo outing, Sound Ancestors, which showcased the artist over the producer. Check “Anointed Soul” for an indirect homage to J Dilla’s neo-soul beat language. “Karriem’s Bolero” is a restrained but wildly colorful showcase for Riggins’ expert application of multivalently layered polyrhythms alongside Madlib’s abstract piano machinations, before electric guitar and flute waft in, adding a Brazilian jazz touch à la João Donato’s ’70s recordings. “JMU’s Voyage” exemplifies 21st century jazz-funk. As an alto saxophone references Grover Washington, Jr.’s “Mister Magic” in its vamp, Riggins stitches in snares and hi-hats in arresting cadences that stagger and invert the time signature to sound, in places, like three different tunes. “Massamba Afundance” is an Afro-Brazilian percussion orgy with drum kits, myriad hand drums, whistles, shakers, handclaps, and voices. A lilting piano vamp employs a ghostly motif, but it is subsumed by the polyrhythmic attack. By contrast, “With Yhwh Love” is almost straight-ahead — but not really. Fans of Yussef Dayes and John Carroll Kirby will find delight in this puzzling, uplifting track. Further, the track “Boppin'” has more in common with Ezra Collective than Dizzy Gillespie, and it walks a loose, loopy line between spidery jazz-funk, EDM, and hip-hop.
Yhwh Is Love is less angular than Pardon My French. While the earlier album delivered a harder edge, this set offers slippery, hypnotic grooves in a humid mix perfect for late-night gatherings or cruising the boulevard.

– Thom Jurek

Tracklist:
1-1. Jahari Massamba Unit – Rubato Love (01:56)
1-2. Karriem Riggins – Stomping Gamay (04:53)
1-3. Jahari Massamba Unit – Otis’ Tambourine (04:29)
1-4. Jahari Massamba Unit – ALL THINGS… (03:43)
1-5. Jahari Massamba Unit – Anointed Soul (03:09)
1-6. Jahari Massamba Unit – Karriem’s Bolero (04:38)
1-7. Jahari Massamba Unit – JMU’s Voyage (04:25)
1-8. Jahari Massamba Unit – Six 8ight (Interlude) (00:31)
1-9. Jahari Massamba Unit – The Clappers Cousin (03:24)
1-10. Jahari Massamba Unit – Massamba Afundance (03:02)
1-11. Jahari Massamba Unit – e11even (interlude) (01:00)
1-12. Jahari Massamba Unit – WITH YHWH LOVE. (05:01)
1-13. Jahari Massamba Unit – Boppin’ (03:39)
1-14. Jahari Massamba Unit – Seven Mile to Oxnard (03:26)

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