Plumb

As a drummer, Questlove holds a distinctive place in the musical landscape. A Grammy-winning performer, his work with the Roots, both on and off The Tonight Show and with artists across the pop, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop spectrum have garnered broad respect. All of which makes 2024s Plumb, his collaboration with iconic free jazz tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist David Murray and longtime Roots associate keyboardist Ray Angry, all the more a refreshing surprise. Questlove is no stranger to jazz, let alone genre-bending projects; evidenced by his work on albums like 2001s The Philadelphia Experiment with bassist Christian McBride and organist Uri Caine, 2005s Momentum with saxophonist Joshua Redman, and 2013s Take Me to the Land of Hell with Yoko Ono. Stil, his main thing is in-the-pocket hip-hop and neo-soul, the latter a vibe he brought to both the Roots and his work with artists like DAngelo, Erykah Badu, and Mark Ronson. He brings all his experiences to bear on Plumb, a sonically textured instrumental album that pleasingly comes off like one of the weirdest mood music LPs ever made. Many of the cuts have groove-based quality, like "Pink Noise," where Questlove kicks into an off-kilter funk-swing beat against which Murray soars and skronks while Angry digs into a buzzy, vintage-sounding synth. Worlds collide on Plumb, as on "5 Minute Joint," which evokes an impossible collaboration between reedist Eric Dolphy, Prince, and Clyde Stubblefield. Elsewhere, they sink into the avant bossa nova lounge number "Intro to Ninno/Ninno," and conjure a woozy, astral jazz sensuality on "Brown Doves." There are also unaccompanied solo tracks, including Murrays bluesy, bass clarinet number "False Dawn" and Questloves "Give the drummer Some"-style "Love." Angry is perhaps the least well-known of the trio, so his contributions here are fascinating, invoking gospel, Krautrock, and, as on his solo track "Pleiades," spacy fusion in the 70s Herbie Hancock tradition. A crazy mood music album indeed, Plumb will groove you into far-out states of musical bliss. ~ Matt Collar