LOGAN RICHARDSON - Afro-Futurism
Whirlwind Recordings: WR 4772
Logan Richardson: alto saxophone, piano, keyboards, synths; Igor Osypov: electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Peter Schlamb: vibraphone, keyboards, key bass; Dominique Sanders: bass, key bass; Ryan J Lee: drums, bass; Corey Fonville: drums; Laura Taglialatela: vocals; Ezgi Karakus: strings
Recorded July 2019 and September 2020 by Keith Rogers and Logan Richardson at Make Believe Studios, Omaha, Nebraska / Wax Industry Studio, Kansas City.
From his hometown of Kansas City to New York via Berklee School of Music, and recordings on Blue Note, Concord, Inner Circle Music, it might feel as if Richardson has come full circle back to his roots with, at least part of, this set recorded in Kansas City. Not only this, but his Great Grandmother Wolff sings to introduce ‘Farewell, Goodbye’ and his mother’s poem provides the lyrics for ‘Awaken’, track 3. As Richardson says, “I was trying to get back deeper to the core of my artistic voice; using fresh production processes to mix in my interconnected influences and all the sounds I hear, while trying to find a sense of roots.’ But he has always been too wily a musical explorer to let something as simple a geography define a journey. The opening voice-over lists jazz greats (although the mix of the spoken voice with the swelling music made it difficult to catch all of the content), segues in heavy drums that lead into the ‘The Birth of Us’. ‘The Birth of Us’ was described by Richardson as ‘Frank Zappa, Queen, Brian Wilson, Radiohead meets Schoenberg in a sci-fi 80s lounge.’ The mix of the drums (where each drum seems to have its own mic and each mic seems to be turned up to 11), together with the sounds of the synth and key bass continues with the 80s vibe. I guess that a gap of some 30 years is long enough for the music of that era to be rediscovered (in certainly sounds like there a lots of pop songs that are from back in the day). But the music is not rooted in the past, for example, ‘Trap’, track 7, explores the two-steps rhythms of a contemporary genre. This melange of musical styles, not to mention the host of jazz influences on show, creates a heady mix of sounds which is further layered with the found-sounds and voice-recordings. At times this is like looking through a scrapbook that has been lovingly curated to take capture all aspects of a person’s life. But just when you might imagine that this becomes a little too random, there is a piece like ‘For Alto, dedicated to Anthony Braxton, in which Richardson’s short, solo piece stops you dead in your tracks and this leads into ‘Light’ in which Richardson’s layered saxophone harmonises over piano and synth which, in turns, shifts into ‘Trap’, track 7. This passage of three tunes showcases Richardson’s lyrical compositions while also nodding to 80s electronica, with themes that Vangelis might have written for ‘Bladerunner’ (or Zimmer and Wallfisch for ‘Bladerunner 2049’)– to return to the 80s sci-fi vibe.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Whirlwind Recordings: WR 4772
Logan Richardson: alto saxophone, piano, keyboards, synths; Igor Osypov: electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Peter Schlamb: vibraphone, keyboards, key bass; Dominique Sanders: bass, key bass; Ryan J Lee: drums, bass; Corey Fonville: drums; Laura Taglialatela: vocals; Ezgi Karakus: strings
Recorded July 2019 and September 2020 by Keith Rogers and Logan Richardson at Make Believe Studios, Omaha, Nebraska / Wax Industry Studio, Kansas City.
From his hometown of Kansas City to New York via Berklee School of Music, and recordings on Blue Note, Concord, Inner Circle Music, it might feel as if Richardson has come full circle back to his roots with, at least part of, this set recorded in Kansas City. Not only this, but his Great Grandmother Wolff sings to introduce ‘Farewell, Goodbye’ and his mother’s poem provides the lyrics for ‘Awaken’, track 3. As Richardson says, “I was trying to get back deeper to the core of my artistic voice; using fresh production processes to mix in my interconnected influences and all the sounds I hear, while trying to find a sense of roots.’ But he has always been too wily a musical explorer to let something as simple a geography define a journey. The opening voice-over lists jazz greats (although the mix of the spoken voice with the swelling music made it difficult to catch all of the content), segues in heavy drums that lead into the ‘The Birth of Us’. ‘The Birth of Us’ was described by Richardson as ‘Frank Zappa, Queen, Brian Wilson, Radiohead meets Schoenberg in a sci-fi 80s lounge.’ The mix of the drums (where each drum seems to have its own mic and each mic seems to be turned up to 11), together with the sounds of the synth and key bass continues with the 80s vibe. I guess that a gap of some 30 years is long enough for the music of that era to be rediscovered (in certainly sounds like there a lots of pop songs that are from back in the day). But the music is not rooted in the past, for example, ‘Trap’, track 7, explores the two-steps rhythms of a contemporary genre. This melange of musical styles, not to mention the host of jazz influences on show, creates a heady mix of sounds which is further layered with the found-sounds and voice-recordings. At times this is like looking through a scrapbook that has been lovingly curated to take capture all aspects of a person’s life. But just when you might imagine that this becomes a little too random, there is a piece like ‘For Alto, dedicated to Anthony Braxton, in which Richardson’s short, solo piece stops you dead in your tracks and this leads into ‘Light’ in which Richardson’s layered saxophone harmonises over piano and synth which, in turns, shifts into ‘Trap’, track 7. This passage of three tunes showcases Richardson’s lyrical compositions while also nodding to 80s electronica, with themes that Vangelis might have written for ‘Bladerunner’ (or Zimmer and Wallfisch for ‘Bladerunner 2049’)– to return to the 80s sci-fi vibe.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
