The first I heard from Taylor McFerrin, son of jazz great Bobby, was his collaboration with vocalist Nai Palm, the Antidote. It was low-slung and somewhere between hip-hop, soul and freeform jazz. His debut album Early Riser was equally eclectic and followed up on his work with Grammy nominees Hiatus Kaiyote. That group came from a similar place to groups such as Bugz in the Attic or labels like Tru Thought or Sonar Kollektiv, Early Riser, on the other hand, sounded less like contemporary neo-soul and more like an experimental take on where it could go next. Songs such as Decisions, featuring Emily King, could easily have been placed in the troubled alt-R&B box by some, but the musicality elsewhere on the album probably spared him that misfortune. He collaborates with Robert Glasper and Brainfeeder’s go-to bass man, Thundercat, on Already There, a brazenly jazz-influenced instrumental that reins in what could otherwise have been self-indulgent noodling. Whereas fellow Brainfeeder man Flying Lotus finally embraced free jazz on You’re Dead!, McFerrin seeks to take some of those flights of fancy and turn them into something that’s compatible with modern hip-hop and neo-soul.
