CROSSINGS

The complex African rhythms, and the electronic sounds melt perfectly together like no other fusion album created before. Herbie was so important to jazz music (notice that I say WAS, because he has really lost it with his newer material) because his "electronic" music had so much personality and vitality, which is really quite rare for "electronic" music in general especially for music in its era. Unlike similar Herbie albums, such as Mwandishi, the music doesn't get stuck in the same loop rhythmically which is so hard to do, especially with songs that last upwards of 20 minutes.

I know that a lot of jazz fans (traditionalists), including Wynton Marsalis, would not consider fusion albums important to the history of jazz, because they incorporate all those newfangled noise devices, and because its too pandering to its audience, and because the rhythms are too straight and on and on and on. Personally I would agree with these purists that this kind of music isn't jazz, but it is simply the next step in the evolution of jazz (which sadly doesn't exist anymore.... oh wait, Kenny G is still making jazz albums that are so important to the evolution of shopping for jeans at jc penny's and sipping on sub par cups of coffee at your local starbucks.)... Sorry I digress.... my point is that Music is constantly evolving, and that labels change and evolve with it. I know it seem that music is dead, but give it some time folks I know that music will make a turn-around as soon as ignorant people who cannot appreciate music because it is simply not aesthetically pleasing to their sensitive glass ears learn to appreciate the values and the concepts of others. Sir. Marsalis sure knows his jazz, and he knows the history behind it (which I know sounds good, but in reality it is not), but he doesn't realize that music MUST evolve and that playing standards in not what music is all about. True that we must also not turn our backs on history, but we cannot rely on history to carry us into the future.... I ramble on.... Back to the Album.

Crossings is jazz music but not your grandpa's form of jazz. It relies on a slightly different language (or slang if you like) than traditionalist jazz. You will not be able to understand what your grandpa has to say, as he will not be able to understand what you are saying, but this doesn't mean that you both arent speaking english, you are both just speaking different dialect of the same language. The electronic sounds on crossings are introspective, energetic and beautiful all at the same time.

I listen to a lot of progressive music, and this album sounds as fresh as it did the first day I listened to it which is hard to do. This is because the album is so complex and visceral that it could be listened to thousands of times over again. I highly recommend this album, but listen to it with no distractions whatsoever if you want to truely understand the complex language contained within.

Thanks for reading (this is my first post)