Unlike his 2016 LP Convergence (featuring Brad Mehldau and other galactic-league sidemen), Reincarnation is more about Warren Wolf’s bond with strong emerging talents—players equally at home in straight-ahead jazz and contemporary R&B and soul settings. On Reincarnation, the Baltimore multi-instrumentalist's vibraphone makes a decisive turn toward the latter, with pianist Brett Williams (doubling beautifully on Rhodes) and drummer Carroll “CV” Dashiell III joining veterans Richie Goods (on electric bass) and Mark Whitfield, whose bitingly bluesy, wah-inflected guitar on two tracks underscores the stylistic shift to particularly great effect. Of course there’s also the slow-jam voice-over work of Baltimore radio DJ Marcellus “Bassman” Shepard on “Smooth Intro” and “Smooth Outro,” along with his guest spots on “In the Heat of the Night” and “Sebastian and Zoë” (the latter featuring Imani-Grace Cooper in one of several vocal features). It’s all about groove, mood, and storytelling here, yet Wolf’s fire as a soloist burns bright as always, especially on the concluding vamp of “The Struggle.”
- 2016
- 2011
- Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra & Wynton Marsalis
- Sean Jones