The Creator Has A Master Plan: A Brief Review Of The New Album From Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger On International Anthem

The new album from Dezron Douglas and Brandee Younger is such an easy record to love that it's sort of astonishing. The International Anthem roster has offered up some of the boldest, most genre-rejuvenating jazz records of recent years. And while I'd never want to imply that this one isn't that, Force Majeure is the kind of offering that has an immediacy and charm that's positively refreshing and downright surprising in a way.

Bassist Douglas and harpist Younger tackle a set of compositions that are relevant for our time, and reflective of the kind of jazz that sparks fire in the listener's mind, and reminds again the relevancy of this form to Black American history, and, by extension, American history in general. This method of interpretation, of taking a familiar tune and expanding it and riffing on it, is a uniquely American thing, and one listen to nearly anything here ought to re-affirm a love for jazz in a listener.

"Sing" is bright and inspiring, as is a tender "You Make Me Feel Brand New", a real highlight here. Elsewhere, a run at "The Creator Has a Master Plan" by Pharoah Sanders illuminates the soul, and provides the sort of emotional and intellectual spark that this year of lockdowns and plagues has sapped out of each of us, even as "Never Can Say Goodbye" takes a soul standard and stretches it into shapes that suggest resilience and perserverance. The spoken bits here from Dezron and Brandee lend currency to this material, with a sense that the two players, collaborators with Ravi Coltrane, Cyrus Chestnut, and loads more, are intent in uplifting the spirit while sacrificing nothing in terms of artistry.

This is jazz, but it's reasonalby accessible, the complexities ones which reward a newcomer to the form, and remind a long-time head just how many shapes this form can be stretched into. And yet the whole enterprise here is so simple that the resulting record seems sort of old-fashioned and magical. This one hit my soul at the right time and, silly as it sounds, I felt inspired after a first listen. Of course, jazz should always have that effect, and stuff on this label usually does, but leave it to a bassist and harpist to use a nearly-minimalist approach to re-affirm the power of this genre, all while providing a supremely-listenable experience.

Force Majeure is out on Friday via International Anthem.

[Photo: Deneka Peniston]