The debut album from the second iteration of
the Blue Note All-Stars, 2017's
Our Point of View is an ambitious, highly rewarding double-disc set from the 21st century jazz supergroup. Brought together by Blue Note president and album co-producer
Don Was, this version of
the Blue Note All-Stars features pianist and album co-producer
Robert Glasper, trumpeter
Ambrose Akinmusire, saxophonist
Marcus Strickland, guitarist/vocalist
Lionel Loueke, bassist
Derrick Hodge, and drummer
Kendrick Scott. Each a highly gifted and well-respected solo artist in his own right, together they've come up with an album that avoids the normal clichés of building an all-star supergroup. Rather than play a loose set of well-worn standards,
the Blue Note All-Stars focus on original compositions that highlight their own maverick, individualist tendencies. Thankfully, they also play wonderfully as an ensemble and are able to zero in on a sound that works for each member as part of the greater whole. Cuts like
Scott's "Cycling Through Reality" and
Hodge's "Second Light" have a flowing architecture that balances a roiling, avant-garde improvisational flair with tightly wound contemporary rhythms. Elsewhere,
Glasper offers the sprightly "Bayyinah," his kaleidoscopic introductory phrases giving way to a propulsive, psychedelic-tinged jam. Particularly engaging are the several tracks centered on
Loueke, including
Hodge's gorgeously lyrical, folk-inflected "Message of Hope," in which
Loueke geminates his guitar and voice to haunting effect. In contrast, the guitarist's own "Freedom Dance" is a funky hip-hop and Afro-beat-infused jam full of spring-wound electric bass and serpentine effects-dipped improvisations. Interestingly, the only jazz standard that makes the cut is the group's swaggering reading of
Wayne Shorter's "Witch Hunt," in which
Akinmusire and
Strickland evince the post-bop dynamism of
Shorter and trumpeter
Freddie Hubbard on the original recording, while also pushing the song in their own idiosyncratic directions. In beautiful recognition of
Shorter's storied history with the label, they also bring the legendary saxophonist on board for a lush rendition of his classical-leaning, Rhodes keyboard-steeped composition "Masquelero" (originally off
Miles Davis' 1967 non-Blue Note album
Sorcerer). Joining him is fellow Blue Note legend pianist
Herbie Hancock. Perhaps taking a cue from
Shorter and
Hancock's own maverick, forward-looking career trajectories, with
Our Point of View the Blue Note All-Stars have crafted an album that balances a love for the Blue Note label's history with their own deeply creative and endlessly engaging artistic voices. ~ Matt Collar