NOT TiGHT

DOMi & JD BECK

I have been waiting for this record for a very long time. I was turned on to JD Beck and DOMi sometime last year and I've been obsessed ever since; the handful of live sessions available on YouTube have been in steady rotation. JD Beck, the nineteen year old drumming phenom, has made a name for himself with his hyperactive grooves riddled with stuttering ghost notes. Even with the flurry of notes Beck plays, it never feels like a drummer out of control. Instead, he plays with a laser-focused precision that is mesmerizing. The twenty-two year old DOMi is just as stunning. The ambidextrous keyboard prodigy has an incredibly tuned ear for rich chord progressions and has an insane talent when it comes to performing these dizzying jazz runs. Now, I would settle for a live, intimate, no frills debut very similar to the vibe of those YouTube sessions, however, DOMi and JD Beck had different plans. For one, the duo wanted to incorporate some of their jazz-hop influences from the likes of Madlib (whom they paid homage to with a medley of Madvillainy renditions). Secondly, the duo wasn't entirely interested in keeping things instrumental, opting to enlist a few guests and also giving vocals a try for themselves. I won't lie, looking at the tracklist, I was a little concerned. I only recognized one track among all the YouTube sessions I was hoping would be included, and I also wasn't sure how the myriad of guests - some notable like Anderson.Paak, Thundercat, and Mac DeMarco, and others legendary like Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Herbie Hancock - would fit in with Beck and DOMi's style. The duo is so great on their own already that I was afraid that bringing on a guest would somehow take away from the magic the duo were able to conjure, or that they would stick out like a sore thumb.

All my anxieties were quickly dispelled the moment I put this on. After a brief, but heavenly intro featuring some string pads, occasional plucked melodies, and skittering flute, we jump right into two songs that should feel familiar to already converted fans of the duo. WHATUP and SMiLE shows you upfront just what these two amazing musicians are capable of. DOMi steals the show on the former with some crazy melodic runs. It is astounding how fast she can dance around the keys while avoiding musical minefields. As for Beck, he gets his moment to go off in the final moments of the latter. It is one of the few times on the record where Beck gets to play around uninhibited. We get some more tasty instrumentals peppered throughout the record, one of my favourites being DUKE. It's not as impressive on a technical scale, but I really like the unsaturated colour of the instruments on this one. The odd metered loop the duo builds also reminds me of something Earl Sweatshirt would choose to ride if he were in one of his heady, introspective moods. So, the instrumental jazz side of the duo is well represented on this album and everything; the performances, the compositions, the timbres, are nearly flawless.

A great deal of the material on NOT TiGHT, though does incorporate some vocals and I'm happy to report that it goes over very well. The Anderson .Paak fronted lead single TAKE A CHANCE is a stellar cut. .Paak raps and sings soulfully over some nocturnal upright bass and some chill piano chords. The chorus is where things brighten slightly as DOMi and Beck take over vocal duties. And it's kind of beautiful; the two demonstrating that not only do they have musical chemistry, but a great deal of vocal chemistry as well. The vocal melody and the words are so endearingly sweet, it is impossible not to feel good upon hearing it. Thundercat delivers a fittingly nonsensical verse (as well as his trademark virtuosic bass playing) on the angular BOWLiNG. Mac DeMarco's alien croon completely transforms the number the duo performed for a Zildjian Live session (TWO SHRiMPS). I will admit, there are some melodic flourishes from the original that are missing here, but I do appreciate the more condensed runtime and I think this tune has one of the most satisfying chord progression on the record. The duo even manages to get hip-hop legends Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes together for the floaty and euphoric PiLOT. The two MCs deliver such smooth and sultry verses, sounding impossibly cool in the process. Sure, DOMi and Beck have to reign in their chops a little bit in order to accommodate their guests in most cases, but it hardly feels like a grand sacrifice.

NOT TiGHT is honestly one of the most fun albums I've heard in a long time. I've been trying to get more into jazz over the years, but there's often a thread of seriousness and pretension that can make it difficult to connect to the art form. Thank goodness for Beck and DOMi who's young perspective, playfulness, and sense of humour make their music very easy to listen to, even when they are flexing their insane performance chops. Chops that are far too advanced for people their age I might add. Amazing record. Very little to criticize, and if I were to take the time to expand in greater detail, I would just come off nit-picky. Make sure this record doesn't slip past you.