P4M REVIEW: THE BRUKNAHM PROJECT, VOLUME ONE: URBAN WORLDBEAT

Every now and then, an album comes along that really points the way. The Bruknahm Project, Volume One: Urban Worldbeat is one of those albums. Brainchild of composer/producers Saundi Wilson and Sebastian "SibaGiba" Bardin, with Bruknahm progenitor Guka Evans, the album is as much philosophy as a collection of musical numbers, deftly proving how far forward music today can go-- now that we are exposed daily to rap, reggae, raga, tango, gaelic folk, and moody '60s French film scorage; and, more importantly, now that our taste for and understanding of various kinds of so-called world music has evolved beyond the speciously "exotic."

Cuts like "Lester Left Town" (incorporating trumpet skywriting by Cecil Young and excerpts from an interview with jazz great Lester Bowie), "Loft Session" (with craggy horn abstractions crashing down into deep string thunks), and "Jihad" (pure, pulsing momentum fueled by beat and a woman's chanting) are tenets of faith to be studied and promulgated. But don't get me wrong: The Bruknahm Project is supremely listenable. For me, this album has already passed the ten-listens test and I'm still charting new dimensions. And I think that's because although TheBruknahm Project takes off from a jazz point of view-- Wilson's roots are in jazz; his father was drummer Phillip Wilson-- it goes to a place beyond where those estimable-but-not-always-listenable brainiac-jazz albums often go. The very generous aim of this project seems to be to give pleasure, not to instruct, thank you.