One of the most important jazz artists, Terence Blanchard has created music ranging from straightahead jazz to sound tracks to sermonettes to even opera. This time around, he goes into the funk mode with his band of Charles Altura/g, Fabian Almazan/p-synth, Donald Ramsey/b and Oscar Seaton/dr along with some vocals that are both sung, spoken and rapped, touching on subjects that even include the recent police confrontations, hence the title of the album..
You get a couple interesting covers here, with PJ Morgan getting down and funky on Less McCann’s electrified “Compared To What” and then a romantic read of Hank Williams’ “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time” along with Altura’s guitar. There’s also a mix of rap and soul by JRei Oliver on ”Shutting Down” and some 70s-chic hip poetry on “Samadhi.” Wacka wooka guitars and get down beats are on Soul Train-ish “Soldiers” and all throughout Blanchard’s horn cries and shrieks with keyboard accompaniment on “Tom and Jerry” and “See Me As I Am.” This album comes across as almost retro, feeling like the big gas guzzling Caddies are back in vogue.
Blue Note Records
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