New Music Releases: Ryan Porter, Waajeed & Others, Shawn Lee

Ryan Porter -  Force For Good

The deepest sounds so far from Ryan Porter – a double-length album of spiritual majesty, and a set that marks Porter as one of the key up-and-coming players on the West Coast Get Down scene! The record has long tracks that are very far-thinking jazz all the way through – mostly instrumental, although with the occasional vocal passage here and there – delivered with this sense of promise and mission that we never would have expected in Porter's music at the start – both in the strength of his trombone solos, and the overall conception of the sound. The core group is fantastic – Kamasi Washington on tenor, Cameron Graves and Brandon Coleman on Fender Rhodes and piano, Thundercat on electric bass, Miles Mosely on acoustic bass, and Tony Austin on drums – and titles include "Blame It On The Sun", "Carriacou", "Oscalypso", "Peple Talk", "World On Wheels", "Mesosphere", "Madiba", "Heaven Only Knows", and a great jazz take on the Rotary Connection classic "Memory Band".  ~ Dusty Groove

Waajeed & Others - Detroit Love Vol 3

We don't hear nearly enough from Waajeed as we'd like to – but he really returns to glory here on a stunning mix of underground tracks from the Detroit scene – all contemporaries of Waajeed, and part of that rich electronic legacy that he's given us from his early days on the city's musical landscape! The work here definitely reflects the Planet E placement of the mixtape – music that's heavy on the future electric elements that always made Carl Craig and crew such standouts – even amidst a larger global scene – but it's the special work of Waajeed that has us loving this volume of Detroit Love most of all. CD is a continuous mix of 20 tracks – with titles that include "Overbite" by Roddy Rod, "We Out Chea" by 14kt, "Celestrial (club mix)" by D-Love Muzic, "Gonna Tell Me" by Teflon Dons, "WhoRU" by Ladymonix, "I'm In Trouble" by DJ Rimarkable, "Minimariddim" by Matthew Law, and "Mermaid Blues" by DAmon Bell featuring CAmille Safiya. ~ Dusty Groove

Shawn Lee - Shawn Lee Rides Again

The freewheeling Shawn Lee rides again, this time steering into folk soul, country funk and personally reflective songwriting in ways we haven't heard from him before – all the while living up to his genre-straddling indie funk legacy and penchant for winning stylistic detours over the years! Shawn does a great job of drawing on influences like Tony Joe White and other unique singer-songwriter-performers who could blur the lines between funky southern soul, folk and rock without sounding like anyone other than themselves, and his heart on sleeve lyricism is sweet, too. between "Wichita", "Wherever The Wind Blows", "Crystal Springs", "Losin' My Mind", "Brown Hair Woman", "Mr Maestro", "Farmer Brown", "Yesterday Tomorrow Today", "Kansas City Summer" and "Joyland". ~ Dusty Groove