Where
Miles Davis left off in the recording studio just before his death, cornetist
Graham Haynes picks up, continuing to explore the controversial marriage between mainstream jazz and hip-hop rhythms. With the swipe of a scratch turntable,
John Coltrane's "Transition" is sent reeling into the hip-hop age (who is to say that the ever-curious
Coltrane wouldn't be dabbling in hip-hop if he were still alive?), as do a number of
Haynes originals. Yet
Haynes also has other fusions and revivals on his mind, sometimes reaching back to
Miles' nearly forgotten mid-'70s "jungle band" for fuel. "Walidiya" throws Middle Eastern vocals and a sitar into a lengthy, mesmerizing procession, overseen by
Haynes' far-off cornet and Steve Williamson's soprano sax.
Haynes even successfully revives one of
Miles' least-imitated experiments, the wah-wah-pedal trumpet (or in this case, cornet), on "Mars Triangle Jupiter" and "Freestylin.'" ~ Richard S. Ginell