Jazz Gone Dub: Gaudi’s Deep Conversation Between Modern Jazz and Dub Reggae

Gaudi’s Jazz Gone Dub is a masterful exercise in wedding modern jazz to dub reggae, a project that feels both patiently crafted and joyfully alive. Created and recorded over four years, the album is saturated in heavy dub rhythms, killer solos, glorious melodies, and canny, immersive production. Its illustrious lineup alone signals ambition: the late, legendary rhythm section of Sly & Robbie; guitarists Ernest Ranglin and David Hinds of Steel Pulse; bassists Jah Wobble and Colin Edwin; saxophonist and flutist Gavin Tate-Lovery; trumpeter and trombonist Tim Hutton; reggae drummer Horseman (Winston Williams); and several others. Gaudi himself is everywhere, playing piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3, glockenspiel, santoor, and taishōgoto harp. The album was recorded in London and Sardinia by Papa Ntò, with Sly & Robbie and Ranglin tracked at Kingston’s legendary Tuff Gong Studios.

Gaudi wastes no time revealing his chops on opener “Cool Jazztice,” winding blues-drenched piano lines around reverbed horns, Wurlitzer, and a wah-clavinet, all anchored by a skanking rhythm that supports soul-jazz phrasing and a trancey, economically funky bassline. His solo feels completely at home inside the reggae cadence, never forcing the fusion. “H.E.L.P. (Happy Elephants Love Pistachio)” rides a reverb-soaked dub foundation, decorated with tenor sax, trombone, and trumpet shaping a harmonically rich, contemporary jazz melody. Tim Hutton’s trumpet solo is lyrical and precise, while Tate-Lovery delivers a righteous flute statement amid crisscrossing rhythms and a pummeling bassline.

“Deflated and Discombobulated” leans into funky, soulful contemporary jazz, with punchy Wurlitzer, layered pianos, wah-clavinet, and a hard dub rhythm section flowing effortlessly through the mix. Gaudi plays piano, bass, and santoor on the gorgeous “Alabaster Moon,” threading groove-heavy jazz into a ferocious palette of deep dread rhythm and electronics. Slippery funk converses with finger-popping, nocturnal swing as biting, double-timed bass and drums whirl beneath hovering horns.

“Bach @ Liszt (Bucket List)” becomes a showcase for David Hinds, who walks the tightrope between lead and rhythm guitar while comping deftly behind shifting solos. Tate-Lovery’s flute, floating amid brass and reeds, adds an exotic, Quincy Jones-esque orchestral sheen over the insistent pulse. Gaudi’s vampy introduction to “Dub Lu” recalls a young Herbie Hancock, framed by Edwin’s dub-heavy bassline and two guitarists, while echo-laden production gives the track depth and dimension. “Susceptible,” featuring Sly & Robbie and Ranglin, reimagines Ranglin’s “Ernie’s Dub” from Havana Meets Kingston in Dub. Gaudi’s Hammond B-3 guides the pulse as dub effects slip and shimmer through the backdrop, and Ranglin delivers a jaw-dropping solo that weds his iconic phrasing with echoes of Grant Green and Boogaloo Joe Jones. Tate-Lovery’s flute and sax add grace, polish, and soul.

Closer “Tokyo Subterfuge” opens with a vintage hard-bop piano vamp before Gaudi’s solo nods to the in-the-pocket funk of Ray Bryant. When Gaudi switches to Rhodes or harp, Matteo Saggese takes over the acoustic keys, while Wobble, Horseman, and guitarist Marcus Upbeat drive the groove home. Jazz Gone Dub ultimately unfolds as an easy yet deeply rewarding conversation between hip jazz and dub reggae, where vintage traditions meet breathtakingly modern sound design. Guided by Gaudi’s taste, texture, innovation, and grit, the album feels less like a crossover experiment and more like a natural evolution.