FATHERS is a jazz quartet from Los Angeles, California comprised of keyboardist Kiefer Shackelford, bassist Ben Carr, drummer Nate Smith & producer Kenny Beats. Almost everyone has an established background in the instrumental hip hop field except from Nate, whose output generally ranges from jazz fusion to jazz-funk & neo-soul. The greatest jazz label of all-time Blue Note Records have decided to bring the band on board for their eponymous full-length debut & only a couple weeks away from Kenny fully producing Rico Nasty’s upcoming 3rd album RX finally seeing the light of day later this month.
“Eye Level” sets things off with a 3 minute intro working in some synthesizers, pianos, drums & bass giving off heavy instrumental hip hop vibes whereas “Patchwork” brings alto saxophonist Nicole McCabe on board for an infectiously bright jazz track that I can imagine hearing at opulent hotel from a complimentary standpoint. The only single “Pearl” experiments with Brazilian pop-jazz & I admire the way they gave it a modern luster just before “Stub” kinda has hypnotically quirkier approach compositionally.
We have FATHERS incorporating some organs for “The Leak” to kick off the 2nd half of their self-titled debut while “Tomorrow, Again” concludes the 3rd quarter bringing a more tropical flare to the table instrumentally enlisting violinist Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi to handle the strings. “Front Yard” comes through with some colorfully rich keys & drums that have a boom bap quality to them while the closer “Figure 8” brings Yasmeen back 1 last time provide a heavenly outro fusing jazz & instrumental hip hop.
I can’t deny Kenny Beats taking the risk of expanding his clientele outside of hip hop by producing Geese’s 4th album Getting Killed last fall & Weezer’s next full-length The Gold Album later this August, so it was interesting to hear him forming FATHERS with 3 other jazz-rooted instrumentalists who’ve already established themselves & I hope this is only the beginning for the band since they improvised a tastefully jazzy instrumental hip hop debut with some occasional funk influences.
Score: 4/5
Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!
Legends Will Never Die 