Initially emerging in the late '60s, bassist
Henry "The Skipper" Franklin has enjoyed a late-career resurgence, buoyed by reissues of his classic
Black Jazz Records LPs and his 2022 collaboration with Bay Area collective
Daggerboard,
Daggerboard and the Skipper. Released the same year as that recording,
JID014 further underlines
Franklin's reputation as a West Coast jazz legend and torchbearer for the funky, atmospheric post-bop he championed at the start of his career. The 14th volume in instrumentalist
Adrian Younge and producer
Ali Shaheed Muhammad's ongoing Jazz Is Dead Series,
JID014 showcases
Franklin leading a small ensemble featuring keyboardist/guitarist
Younge, as well as guitarist
Jeff Parker, drummer
Jonathan Pinson, trumpeter
Clinton Patterson, saxophonist
David Urquidi, saxophonist/flautist
Scott Mayo, and percussionist
Nicholas Baker. While past Jazz Is Dead entries have explored the convergence of jazz, hip-hop, electronic music, and more, here,
Franklin,
Younge, and
Muhammad shine a light on the former with their original compositions, all of which evoke the fluidly organic, modal jazz of
Franklin's classic albums like 1973's
The Skipper. Some of the tracks, like the Latin-inflected "Cafe Negro" and the moody, minor-key "The Griot," wouldn't sound out of place on a classic
Blue Note date. Others, like the opening "Karibu," straddle both contemporary and throwback styles, mixing loungey, late-'60s harmonies with a kinetic, EDM, jungle-inspired groove. There's also the hard-swinging "African Sun" and the woozy, '70s Blaxploitation-sounding epic "People's Revolution," the latter of which finds
Franklin's woody bass framed by noir-ish horns and acidic wah-wah guitar. With
JID014,
Younge and
Muhammad celebrate
Franklin's decades-long soul-jazz voyage. ~ Matt Collar
![Waltz for Debby [1962]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888072323261_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Waltz for Debby [1962]")
