Artist: Gerald Clayton
Album: Ones & Twos
Genre: Post-Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Fusion
Label: Blue Note
Released: 2025
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
- Angels Speak (Clayton) - 3:56
- Cinnamon Sugar (Clayton) - 4:15
- Sacrifice Culture (Clayton) - 2:36
- How Much Love? (Clayton) - 3:44
- Count M (Clayton) - 2:26
- Just Above (Clayton) - 5:22
- Lovingly (Clayton) - 3:56
- Rush (Clayton) - 4:15
- For Peace (Clayton) - 2:36
- More Always (Clayton) - 3:44
- Space Seas (Clayton) - 2:26
- Endless Tubes (Clayton) - 5:22
DOWNLOAD FROM FILECAT.NET >>>
- Personnel:
- Gerald Clayton - piano, Rhodes, organ, KinderKlavier, Moog, Korg MS-20, vocals
- Joel Ross - vibraphone
- Elena Pinderhughes - flute, alto flute
- Marquis Hill - trumpet
- Kendrick Smith - drums
- Kassa Overall - percussion
- Charlean Carmon, Nita Whitaker - soprano vocals (#10)
- India Carney, Valerie Pinkston - alto vocals (#10)
- Scott Mayo, Fred White - tenor vocals (#10)
On his third Blue Note album, 2025's slyly experimental Ones & Twos, pianist Gerald Clayton balances warm contemporary jazz with a boldly low-key DJ-inspired concept. Joining Clayton is an ensemble of equally daring improvisers, including vibraphonist Joel Ross, flutist Elena Pinderhughes, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and drummer Kendrick Scott. Together, they dig into Clayton's sonically textural compositions, which find him drawing upon a cohesive blend of modal post-bop, modern classical, soul, and Afro-Latin sounds. Following the group's initial studio sessions, Clayton then brought in drummer/producer Kassa Overall to help rework the tracks in post-production, adding yet another layer of sonic and rhythmic interplay. Furthermore, Clayton constructed the album from the start in a conceptual manner with the first six tracks, side A, intended to be played accordingly with the second six tracks, side B -- essentially, "mixing" them like a club DJ spinning vinyl. Some of this concept is implied in the song titles, where they work as a call-and-response or reveal a longer phrase. This is evident from the start with the lead-off "Angels Speak," whose delicately loping soul-jazz groove is faintly echoed in the sparkling lounge vibes of track 7's "Lovingly." Similarly, the vibrant Afro-Brazilian rhythms of "Cinnamon Sugar" are mirrored in the refractory hip-hop dreamscape of track 8's "Rush." While the DJ-spinning concept works nicely, the album also flows just as well from start to finish. There's a potent mix of throwback and cutting-edge sounds on Ones & Twos, and cuts like "Sacrifice Culture," "Count M," and "Endless Tubes" evoke classic '70s albums by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter just as much as they do contemporary projects by Flying Lotus and Squarepusher.
Review by Matt Collar