Let Sound Tell All

by Julius Rodriguez

Overview

A true cross-genre phenomenon, pianist Julius Rodriguez is a gifted improviser and composer well-versed in the jazz tradition, but also at home in gospel, funk, and hip-hop settings. Rodriguez, who also goes by his nickname, "Orange Julius," has backed jazz vocalist Carmen Lundy and, most notably, toured with rapper A$AP ROCKY in 2018. He brings this deep well of stylistic inspiration to his Verve debut, 2022's dynamically realized Let Sound Tell All. There's a post-modernism and sonic warmth to the album as Rodriguez blends organic live jazz and inventive studio production. It's a combination perhaps best exemplified by the opener, "Blues at the Barn." A hard-swinging blues in the McCoy Tyner tradition, it starts with Rodriguez and his trio with bassist Philip Norris and drummer Joe Saylor playing to an appreciative clapping crowd at what could be an outdoor festival before morphing EDM-style into what is clearly a vividly captured in-studio performance. Rodriguez plays with other mind-bending studio conceits throughout the album, finding ever more ear-popping ways to reframe his adventurous jazz. "Two Way Street" starts with a kinetic drum pattern against which tenor saxophonist Braxton Cook blows fiery lines with a guttural intensity that Rodriguez filters through a psychedelic soundboard, transforming the saxophonist's every breath into a miasma of shrieks and spiraling laser tones. No less sonically adventurous is "Gift of the Moon," a funky hip-hop-infused track in which Rodriguez lays down a dewy bed of synths and electric piano over which trumpeter Giveton Gelin plays a dreamlike web of trumpet melodies. More delicate moments pop up elsewhere, as on the languid "Elegy (For Cam)." Beginning with Rodriguez's hypnotic piano and synth chords played over a woody, wave-like bass groove, the song culminates in a sparkling shimmer of gospel vocal harmonies from singer Hailey Knox. With Let Sound Tell All, Rodriguez has made an album that deftly bridges the gap between earthy live jazz and wizard-like studio craftsmanship. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	06/10/2022
Label:	Verve
UPC:	0602445254217
Rank:	87973

Tracks

1. Blues at the Barn
2. All I Do
3. Interlude
4. Gift of the Moon
5. Two Way Street
6. Where Grace Abounds
7. Elegy (For Cam)
8. In Heaven
9. Philip's Thump

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Julius Rodriguez   Primary Artist,Juno,Casio,Drums,Piano,Mellotron,Moog Bass,Prophet 5,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Organ (Hammond),Fender Jazz Bass,Moog Synthesizer
Ben Wolfe   Double Bass
Joe Saylor   Drums
Kim Jong Kook   Drums
Philip Norris   Bass,Double Bass,Bass (Upright)
Christopher Bruce   Guitar (Acoustic)
Ben Wolf   Bass (Upright)
Daryl Johns   Bass,Bass (Upright)
Nick Hakim   Vocals (Background)
Hailey Knox   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Morgan Guerin   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano),Bass (Electric),Sitar (Electric)
Vuyo Sotashe   Vocals (Background)
Giveton Gelin   Drums,Trumpet
Jongkuk Kim   Drums
Sara Labriola   Guitar (Electric)
Daniel Winshall   Bass (Electric)
Samara Joy   Vocals
Brian Richburg, Jr.   Drums
Mariah Cameron   Vocals

Technical Credits

Kevin Reeves   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Dahlia Ambach Caplin   A&R
Stevland Morris   Composer
Stevie Wonder   Composer
Daniel Schlett   Engineer,Recording
Lou Marini   Composer
Mr. Anus   Management
John Muller   Engineer,Recording
Tom Arndt   Release Coordinator,Production Coordination
Daniel Sanint   Engineer,Recording
Vishal Nayak   Engineer,Recording
Nathaniel Cochrane   Management
Jon Castelli   Mixing
Darlene Andrews   Composer
Hailey Knox   Engineer,Recording
Alex Conroy   Engineer,Recording
Drew Moore   Engineer,Producer,Recording,Mastering Engineer
Drew Ofthe Drew   Producer
Joey Wunsch   Engineer,Recording
Josh Deguzman   Mixing
Julius Rodriguez   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Recording Arranger
Ido Ivraham   Engineer,Recording,Mastering Engineer
Avery J. Savage   Creative Director
Daniel Sainint   Mastering Engineer