Label: Pi Recordings, 2026
Personnel - Brandon Ross: electric guitar, banjo, soprano guitar; Melvin Gibbs: electric bass; JT Lewis: drums; Georgia Anne Muldrow; vocals, keyboard.
Harriet Tubman—named after the American abolitionist and social activist—is an idiosyncratic jazz-funk trio that crosses genres naturally with a non-clichéd aesthetic. Here, they place Black Music in a new light in the company of Grammy-nominated vocalist/producer Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Electrical Field of Love channels their passion into 12 concise tracks, demonstrating a magnificent command of mood and atmosphere. Full of strength, “Flowers” opens the proceedings with evocative, mysterious undercurrents. An entrancing hip-hop-inflected rhythm anchors the piece, soon joined by a rugged, distorted tapestry of guitar and bass. The trio continues to rock and funkify in a fevered experimental uproar, with Muldrow’s voice soaring above. Her contributions are even more striking on the ascending “Anatomical Fable of the Elements” and “Isom Dart Was”, which flows with contemporary crossover appeal as funk and R&B are shaped by the trio’s noir imagination.
“Insisting” feels at once vulnerable, volatile, and oppressive, featuring layered, spectral vocals, while “How You Rise” unfolds with transfiguring intensity, opening with Ross’ clamorous, wailing guitar and anchored by Gibbs’ robust 4/4 grooves.
Boasting a powerful sound, “Assata” builds and deconstructs over Lewis’ hypnotic rhythms. Its simple yet effective harmonic treatment gives way to the greater complexity of “Don’t Stand a Chance, After the Boom”, where an insistently cyclic and daringly polyrhythmic approach is enriched by clever electronics and vivid percussion.
“Up From the Gum” conjures a disquieting and perplexing mood, driven by urgent syncopation and a six-beat bass groove at its core. The group crafts immersive spaces that reveal their true musical identity. Similarly, Muldrow’s “A Black Song” unfolds as a self-expressive experiment in jazz fusion, featuring wavering keyboards and a strong rhythmic flow driven by Lewis’ inventive drum figures.
Messages and themes unfold within a narrative concept that often feels like reopening an old wound in order to better heal it. Awash with fresh, intense energy, this is a special collaborative album that establishes a deep-rooted connection to the history of Black Music.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Flower ► 03 - Isom Dart Was ► 05 - When You Rise ► 08 - Assata