The Pleasure Is Yours

Named after Gina, the character Tisha Campbell played in the television series Martin, GENA -- standing for God Energy, Naturally Amazing, so presumably a bacronym -- is a duo consisting of Hailee Williams and Karriem Riggins. Williams, aka Liv.e, is a singer, songwriter, and producer with a sizeable catalog of recordings that flouts genre boundaries and traditional song structures. Veteran drummer and beatmaker Karriem Riggins is a rare musician with concurrent jazz and hip-hop resumes that are equally impressive. Hes likely the one person on the planet who can claim direct links to Oscar Peterson, Roy Hargrove, and Esperanza Spalding, as well as J Dilla, Common, Madlib, and Erykah Badu. Williams has cited at least three of the latter four as inspirations, making Riggins, introduced to her through a mutual friend, a natural match. The Pleasure Is Yours, a set of delightfully askew R&B, was constructed through file sharing. Riggins produced the tracks, over half of which involve additional live instrumentation from guitarist Isaiah Sharkey, bassist Burniss Travis, and keyboardist James Francies, among several other musicians. The lyrics and vocals are all Williams, who also co-produced "Doobie Doo Wew," a woozy rumination. Going by the syrupy mystic brews on offer throughout, Riggins has spent some time with Williams output, and yet an instrumental edition of this LP would make for a sensible extension of his albums Alone Together and Headnod Suite. Williams is her whimsical self, switching vocal modes and emotions from track to track, at times within a track, seemingly with a mix of intent and improvisation. In the low-slung and entrancing "Circlesz," she purrs, "You love the way I just dont care, like f*ck it," all casual, while in the chorus, she does her own kind of call-and-response, bouncing from low chest voice to high head voice. Its the Mexican hot chocolate cookie of hooks. In the choppy "Lead It Up," Williams is at her most seductive and silliest, tickling the ears with lines like "Ill make a man out of you," and scatting in a way that sounds like a blown-out kazoo. Dont cross her, though -- woe is the fool she castigates on the hard-knocking third track. ~ Andy Kellman