Pardon My French

The first album by Dilla collaborators Madlib and Karriem Riggins as the Jahari Massamba Unit joins music by contemporaries like Jeff Parker and Angel Bat Dawid in reframing jazz for audiences raised on hip-hop. The clearest influence here is the dense, cosmic sound of ’70s artists like Bennie Maupin (“Du Morgon Au Moulin-À-Vent \[Pour Duke\]”), Alice Coltrane (“Les Jardins Esméraldins \[Pour Caillard\]”), and Miles Davis (“Trou Du Cul \[Ode Au Sommelier Arrogant\]”). But while jazz has historically focused on documenting the conversation between instrumentalists, Madlib and Riggins—the former of whom is best known for his work in underground hip-hop, the latter of whom has produced for Common and Erykah Badu but also played drums for Diana Krall and Norah Jones—foreground groove and mood, simple subjects both artists have yet to exhaust in their 20-plus-year careers.

Drums: Karriem Riggins. Instruments: Madlib. We would have called it Spiritual Jazz but Phil Ranelin told us to call it Black Classical Music. We are proud to announce the long-awaited debut album from Jahari Masamba Unit, Pardon My French. Among all of the projects Madlib presented as part of his Jazz Universe, this collaboration was of particular note to fans, who continued to wonder for years if anything else might come from the collaboration. This album, put together by students of jazz in its myriad and historic corms, and also proponents of jazz’s future, reflects a lifetime of record collecting, musical study, woodshopping, and a reverential respect for one another’s craft.

This joint project between Madlib and drummer Karriem Riggins sounds like experimental jazz and feels like a beat tape.

Pardon My French is an expressive jazz tour de force from Jahari Massamba Unit

Jahari Massamba Unit is the very occasional collaborative recording project between producer/mixologist/multi-instrumentalist Madlib and jazz/hip-hop drummer/producer Karriem Riggins.