Strikingly minimalist, the first recording in 20 years from jazz-funk drummer Doug Hammond is a weirdly arresting blend of mystic street poetry and stark musical improvisation. Singing with a rough, unpolished voice that sounds vulnerable but touchingly sincere, or rapping his lines with a hip retro swagger, Hammond accompanies himself with meditative sanza (thumb piano) cycles or dynamically strutting drum riffs. He reaches another level when joined by pianist Kirk Lightsey, who lifts three songs into a world of fragile, melancholy beauty.
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