Offering an atypical approach to the melding of hip hop and jazz, Kassa Overall sets up his own little arts and crafts table in the larger existing field of mostly heavy on the beat, sparse on the jazz music tracks. Overall utilizes jazz motifs as a focal point rather than a background component, and allows the music to freely move around within the loose embrace of his lyrics and electronic instrumentation. In January of this year, the multi-talented drummer/producer/lyricist released the album, Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz, and he is gearing up to drop his next record almost exactly one year later on January 10, 2020, entitled, I Think I’m Good. Overall focused on some deeply personal themes while creating this new music, namely personal relationships and mental health, and this appears to hold true on the lead single “Please Don’t Kill Me”.
If you are unfamiliar with Kassa Overall, one of the first details to jump out is the bevy of talented musicians that contribute to his work. Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz includes support from the likes of Roy Hargrove and Theo Croker, the latter of which Overall played with for close to 10 years. “Please Don’t Kill Me” features both Joel Ross and Theo Croker, and the two players sound wonderful in this mix that keeps the percussion in the background and the vibraphone and trumpet dancing up front alongside some smooth piano and lovely harp. The deadpan delivery of Overall’s rhymes play at odds with the song’s lyrical content, and given how brief an interlude it is, the song feels like it is setting up a distinctive and evocative album. A self-proclaimed “backpack jazz producer”, Kassa Overall uses a minimalist process to capture live music and then edit without needing a large recording studio or more equipment than what he can easily carry wherever he goes. This unique approach to his craft results in a unique listening experience and leaves one eager to hear what the rest of I Think I’m Good has to offer.
Stream Kassa Overall’s “Please Don’t Kill Me” Featuring Joel Ross & Theo Croker Off Upcoming Album ‘I Think I’m Good’
I Think I’m Good, the upcoming album by drummer, producer, and lyricist Kassa Overall drops January 10, 2020.
I Think I’m Good Track List
1. Visible Walls
2. Please Don’t Kill Me (feat. Joel Ross & Theo Croker)
3. Find Me (feat. J Hoard)
4. I Know You See Me (feat. J Hoard & Melanie Charles)
5. Sleeping on the Train
6. Show Me a Prison (feat. J Hoard & Angela Davis)
7. Halfway House
8. Landline (feat. Carlos Overall)
9. Darkness in Mind (feat. Sullivan Fortner)
10. The Best of Life (feat. Aaron Parks) [Explicit]
11. I Got Me a Plan
12. Was She Happy (For Geri Allen) [feat. Vijay Iyer]
Morgan Talbot works in secondary education and arguably has too many records in his house. He enjoys live music, the outdoors, and an occasional geeky boardgame.
