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Stefon Harris and Blackout
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Stefon Harris
and Blackout 
Urbanus [Concord Jazz, 2009]
Washington, D.C. native
Ben Williams first met vibraphonist/composer
Stefon Harris when Williams was an
8th grader. Apparently it was just the head
start he needed to get into this absolutely
burning modern jazz outfit before even turning
25. This group is not screwing around;
the heads, forms, syncopations, and grooves
drawing on everything from swing, R&B,
funk, pop and hip-hop are aggressive, challenging,
and downright butt-shaking when
they want to be. Williams has already won
a bunch of jazz competition awards and
played with Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove,
and Meshell Ndegeocello, but in case you
need further convincing, moments in three
consecutive tracks will blow your hair back:
the funky unison ostinato in “Tankitifed,” the
syncopations and bass breaks over the upswing
blues form of “Shake It For Me,” and
the frenetic hard swing groove in the jagged
“Minor March.” The album’s bonus is a
vocoder-drenched, masterfully jazz/funkedup
version of Stevie Wonder’s 1974 classic
“They Won’t Go (When I Go),” a tune Stevie
re-introduced to the whole world at the
Michael Jackson memorial service in early
July. Sometimes you just get lucky when you
choose a cover.
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