Review – Katisse: Lyrical Worker
July 14, 2009 - Katisse Buckingham (more known as Katisse) belongs to the small circle of musicians drawing relevant bridges between various musical styles: hip-hop/rap, world music and contemporary/smooth jazz. He is not only a talented multi-horn player (tenor, alto and soprano saxophones; flute, alto flute, and ethnic flutes), but also a solid word spoken/rap performer. Katisse has performed/recorded with internationally renowned contemporary jazz bands (Yellowjackets, Down to the Bone) and musicians (John Patitucci, Herbie Hancock, Ricky Lawson, Russ Ferrente, Don Grusin), as well as with hip-hop/rap singers (Dr.Dre, Xzibit) to name a few. Besides being a sought-after freelance musician, Katisse also writes and delivers his lyrically conscious hip-hop/rap rhymes.

Meshing his jazz and rap influences, the Los Angeles-based musician decided last year that it was time to release his debut album “Lyrical Worker” that he co-produced with experienced all-around engineer, Tony Shepperd (Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, Take 6, Whitney Houston). He leans on a first-rate band (vocalists, drums, keyboards, guitars, percussions) with the backing of famous Yellowjackets’ bassist Jimmy Haslip.

The album features twelve original compositions difficult to categorise. It starts with the opening track “Just Listen,” that sounds like a live performance with Katisse’s funky flute and spoken word punctuations enriched by Judith Hill’s warm background vocals. “Higher Power” is equipped with lyrically conscious rhymes that Katisse wrote down while on tour, being inspired by the Talibans’ destruction of many statues of the Buddha in Afghanistan.

A rich musical score also complements this track with Corei Taylor’s Take 6-inspired punchy but airy vocal arrangements (with amazing vocalist Kate Higgins). Beside Katisse on rap and flute/sax, the track also showcases Dennis Hamm’s inspired piano solo on the outro vamp.

The third track “Miles Left” is a mainstream jazz tribute to trumpet legend Miles Davis in a traditional quartet formula, with Katisse on tenor saxophone, supported by inspired sax/piano dialogues and fantastic Chris Wabich on drums performing a “ghostly” sounding drum loop in the background without any samples. “Isolated” vacillates between a socially involved rap (the track finishes with the following lyrics: “We are all alone under the same roof”) and a quartet-like mainstream jazz piece, but always keeps a good musical balance. “Blind Man’s Bluff” features Kate Higgins’ sensual voice.

“Fame Buffet,” starting with Katisse’s flute riffs, is an energetic track whose lyrics denounce the sleazy aspects of TV reality shows. “The Darkness” embodies Katisse’s roots in mainstream jazz with a Bill Evans-inspired reflective style. “Pearls” is a smooth piece paying tribute to Katisse’s childhood friends who passed away. As Katisse puts in the CD online liner notes: As the song says – “they lived hard and died young.” There may be a window between us (physical plane and astral plane), but I can still see them. We are still together.

“Invincible” is a track with a strong pedagogical message (“I’ll teach the children well unless they’re ruined by the masses thrashed in the ashes of outdated principles”) beautifully backed with Kate Higgins’ mellow voice, Cassio Duarte on percussions and Lee Thornburg on trumpet, flugal horn and valve trombone. “Honor Among Thieves” is a beautiful mainstream jazz introspective piece. Then comes the mystical “Incantation” starting with this powerful rhyme (“We all participate in the "quaint human spectacle" according to Mahatma Gandhi”). Interestingly, an instrumental version of this track was recorded in 1994 by Katisse (a "sample" has been lifted from the original recording featuring guitarist Chris Clermont, along with Katisse, singing "monk like" voices) while being with the jazz-rock band Mosaic. The original recording was rearranged and Katisse sang a few more passes to fatten it up. The album terminates with «Before the Dawn», a mainstream jazz slow tempo track with sequences of sadness (the darkness before the dawn) and glimpses of hope (the day’s light after the dawn).

 Katisse’s “Lyrical Worker” is a consistent album that does not firmly fit into a singular musical mold. It represents a good balance between a contemporary jazz intimate atmosphere (quartet plus, in some cases vocals) and a freestyle hip-hop/rap sound with a touch of world music. Beside being a talented multi-horn performer, composer/arranger, band leader and accomplished MC, Katisse is a world citizen and a man of good will. And under these crisis’ circumstances, his spiritually positive lyrics and musical integrity are more than welcome! – by Akbar Nour