Kassa Overall Announces New Album CREAM Out September 12, Performing in Philly at Solar Myth on the 3rd
Grammy-nominated jazz visionary and Doris Duke Artist Award winner Kassa Overall announces his new album CREAM, out digitally, on CD and vinyl September 12 via Warp Records and performs in Philadelphia at Solar Myth September 3rd, see the rest of the tour dates here. With CREAM, his fourth solo studio album, Overall pays homage to the twin passions of his youth — hip-hop and jazz drums in the tradition of Elvin Jones. Across 8 instrumentals, the visionary drummer and producer transforms hip-hop classics by The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, Digable Planets, and Juvenile into timeless standards that are rhythmically adventurous, witty, and often sublime. seamlessly blends jazz, hip-hop and avant-garde experimentation into a sound uniquely his own. The music is both innovative and accessible, pushing the boundaries of genre while remaining deeply engaging. Overall has released six critically acclaimed mixtapes and albums, including I THINK I’M GOOD and Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz.
CREAM was fueled by years of non-stop touring and the need to whittle down Overall’s elaborate electronic-driven stage setup in favor of something simpler. While his previous solo projects relied heavily on drum machines, micro-edited programmed sounds, Ableton Live, and samples, CREAM utilizes Rudy Van Gelder-style sound engineering in the vein of classic jazz recordings like Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue or John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, with performances recorded in the same room with little separation, no overdubs, and no edits. Following now-canonical jazz interpretations of showtunes like John Coltrane’s cover of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” here Overall ironically reframes rap anthems to illustrate each song’s hidden rhythmic and harmonic potential.
CREAM was fueled by years of non-stop touring and the need to whittle down Overall’s elaborate electronic-driven stage setup in favor of something simpler. While his previous solo projects relied heavily on drum machines, micro-edited programmed sounds, Ableton Live, and samples, CREAM utilizes Rudy Van Gelder-style sound engineering in the vein of classic jazz recordings like Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue or John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, with performances recorded in the same room with little separation, no overdubs, and no edits. Following now-canonical jazz interpretations of showtunes like John Coltrane’s cover of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” here Overall ironically reframes rap anthems to illustrate each song’s hidden rhythmic and harmonic potential.
Released August 6th, listen to Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)
