The new album from Archie Shepp is extraordinary. Ocean Bridges, out today via Redefintion Records, finds the legendary sax player teaming up with his nephew, the rapper Raw Poetic, and DJ Damu the Fudgemunk, along with D.C. bass wizard Luke Stewart. The record surprises and pleases, and seems exactly the sort of thing designed to give hope during these bad times. It's also the rarest sort of mix of genres that actually works, and doesn't feel forced. And genres are bridged here, quite literally, and a family.
Usually, the addition of rap to jazz, or the injection of jazz patterns into a hip hop track, sometimes feel like the kind of thing that looked better on paper than reality. But Ocean Bridges makes this melding of forms sound entirely natural. "Learning to Breathe" finds Raw Poetic throwing some fierce rhymes down as Shepp blows on the sax, and the other players keep pace around things, while the even better "Moving Maps" gives a listener a really fine rhythmic workout, one which seems to be anchored by Luke Stewart's sublime bass-work. That bass-line is being ridden by the rappers here, and the overall effect is one of the better moments on a record full of similar ones. And while the epic "Aperture" lets Archie Shepp guide things, the rap pieces of this number seem every bit as integral to the ensemble's explorations here as the horn squeals or bass runs.
"Sugar Coat It" made me think of Black Star, with Raw Poetic's flow sounding like Mos Def's a bit. That said, fans of Gang Starr may also groove to this one too. Raw Poetic has a natural delivery method, one not tied to any unnecessary boasting. And if this is what we'd call conscious rap, it's the kind that, like that of Talib Kweli and Mos, gets at the very root of why hip hop has the power to educate. The other "rap" on this record is found in the spoken word segments from Archie Shepp peppered throughout the album. The cuts sort of bridge, to use the metaphor of the album title, the longer free jazz explorations of "2 Hour Parking" and "Searching Souls" near the end of this release. None of the pieces feel out of place here, not even the spoken word bits, and the players and performers here have made something that's best taken as a total listening experience. Like the best jazz records of the past, and certain rap ones too, Ocean Bridges is a lesson, a journey, and a trip.
Ocean Bridges is out today via Redefintion Records.
More details on Archie Shepp via the official website. More details on Raw Poetic via the official website.
[Photo: Earl Davis]
ARCHIE SHEPP, RAW POETIC, AND DAMU THE FUDGEMUNK