Multi-instrumentalist/composer Adrian Younge synthesizes styles across the spectrum of Black music with a crate-digger's perspective. He scored the blaxploitation homage Black Dynamite in 2009 and released conceptual solo projects ranging from the psychedelic pop-soul Something About April (2011) to synthesizer experimentation on The Electronique Void (2016). Concurrent sessions yielded full-lengths headlined by major influences such as the Delfonics and Ghostface Killah. Ali Shaheed Muhammad became a constant collaborator and business partner. The two worked together on 2018's The Midnight Hour and inaugurated the Jazz Is Dead label, studios, and album series -- featuring a fertile series of collaborative works with legendary artists -- in 2020. The first JID series ran through 2021, and a second series spanned 2022 and 2023. The pair announced a third series in 2024, taking listeners through Ghanaian funk and Brazilian MPB, soul, and samba. The preview anthology JID 021 arrived that October, followed by Adrian Younge Presents Linear Labs: São Paulo in November and JID 022, featuring African guitar legend Ebo Taylor, in January 2025.
Live to listen, to discover, to enjoy, to whatever...