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The new collaborative project Sélébéyone takes the conversation between jazz and hip hop to “feverish new heights” (The WIRE), drawing from Senegalese Rap, French Spectral Music, Modern Jazz, Underground Hip-Hop and Interactive Electronics to create a unique form of urban experimentalism. The project stands apart from almost every other jazz/hip-hop collaboration that has preceded it: this is not an album where live musicians imitate repetitive samples in 4/4 time. Instead, the musical elements – shifting rhythms, electro-acoustic harmonies, and contemporary sound design – are wholly integrated with the lyrical content. Add to that the unique juxtaposition of English and Wolof that permeates the record, and one gets the sense of the development of a whole new musical universe.
Composer and saxophonist Steve Lehman (2009 & 2014 #1 Jazz Album of the Year; 2015 #1 Rising Star Jazz Musician of the Year) leads the international ensemble featuring HPrizm (vocals, English), Gaston Bandimic (vocals, Wolof), Maciek Lasserre (sax/electronics), Carlos Homs (keyboards), Chris Tordini (bass) and Damion Reid (drum set).
Listen to Sélébéyone.
