Daggerboard and the Skipper

A collaboration between the Bay Area jazz collective Daggerboard and veteran bassist Henry "The Skipper" Franklin, 2022s Daggerboard and the Skipper is a sophisticated production that evokes the soulful late-60s/early-70s mood music Franklin championed as the founder of the storied Black Jazz Records. A Los Angeles native, Franklin played with Willie Bobo and Hugh Masekela before making his mark with Black Jazz Records and releasing a handful of influential funk, modal, and hard bop albums between 1971 and 1975. Working with Daggerboard, Franklin again draws upon this legacy, crafting a series of deeply atmospheric, cinematic tracks that feel as if they were composed for a dusky 70s neo-noir. Much of this vibe-making is due to the skills of trumpeter/composer Erik Jekabson and percussionist/composer Gregory Howe, the Daggerboard members responsible for the lions share of the music on Daggerboard and the Skipper. Tracks like "Dream Within a Dream," "Agapanthus," and "Seven for Henry" find them framing Franklins woody bass lines in shimmering orchestral arrangements, wiry guitar accents, and dewy opaque vibraphone harmonies. Equally potent cuts like "Involuntary Separation" and "Oaxacan Standoff" marry spectral Middle Eastern harmonies with roiling jazz grooves. Try to imagine a blend of Miles Davis large-ensemble work with arranger Gil Evans in the 60s with the kinetic, jazzy math rock of Chicagos Tortoise, and youll get a sense of the heady topographical atmospheres at play on Daggerboard and the Skipper. ~ Matt Collar