Takuya Kuroda's follow-up to his breakthrough 2014 album,
Rising Son, 2016's colorful
Zigzagger finds the trumpeter digging even deeper into his hip-hop and Afrobeat-influenced jazz sound. Whereas last time
Kuroda benefitted from the production of one-time boss and collaborator/singer
Jose James, here he mans the production chair himself. It's a bold, if natural choice for the Japan-born/New York-based performer and brings his journey from
James' talented sideman to jazz star and captain of his own funk-jazz ship full-circle. Although steeped in acoustic jazz tradition,
Kuroda (who studied at both Berklee and the New School) has gravitated toward more jam-oriented sounds in recent years. Blessed with a warm, robust trumpet sound and a knack for delivering lithe, soulful solos that bring to mind both
Roy Hargrove and
Hugh Masekela,
Kuroda is truly a 21st century performer. Another shift from
Rising Son is
Kuroda's choice to use his longtime backing ensemble, featuring trombonist/vocalist Corey King, keyboardist Takeshi Ohbayashi, bassist
Rashaan Carter, and drummer Adam Jackson. It's the same group that appeared on 2012's superb
Six Aces, and lends this album a familiarity and interplay that only musicians who've played together for a long time have. Together,
Kuroda and his band make a kinetic blend of harmonically rich jazz that's equal parts organic hip-hop, angular post-bop, and buoyant, rhythmically infectious Afro-beat. As if to reinforce the latter,
Kuroda also brings on board longstanding New York Afro-beat ensemble
Antibalas for the '90s trip-hop-meets-'70s
Fela Kuti-sounding "Think Twice." Elsewhere, cuts like the title track, "R.S.B.D.," and "Actor" find
Kuroda framing his searching trumpet lines in quivering R&B-style synths, laser-tone bass, and pulse-pounding beats pushed way to the front of the mix. Similarly, on tracks like the bass-heavy "No Sign" and the
Maceo Parker-esque "Thirteen," he pulls the groove way back, underlining his hard funk aesthetic with puckered horn lines, loping drum beats, and shimmering wet keyboards. He even takes an inventive approach to jazz balladry, bringing to mind the '70s work of trumpeter
Eddie Henderson on his fractured, languidly melodic "Little Words." As the title implies, with
Zigzagger,
Kuroda continues to push his distinctive jazz-funk explorations in ever more engaging and unexpected directions. ~ Matt Collar