Philly-born virtuoso Derrick Hodge has long been recognised as a bass sideman of rare talent, notably as a hip-hop and avant-funk cornerstone of Robert Glasper’s groups. But it was his genre-fusing 2013 leadership debut Live Today that revealed his depths as a composer and multi-instrumentalist comparable to the illustrious Marcus Miller. Live Today was improvisationally more conversational, while Hodge plays almost all the songs here, with occasional help from hip-hop drummer Mark Colenburg and one track featuring horns. The title track is a richly textured, backbeat-driven anthem for the leader’s shapely guitar melody. There are patiently spun dream walks and ambient drifters over intertwining electric and acoustic bass lines, a delightfully jaunty, finger-snapping dance (World Go Round), languidly groovy rockers with slyly insinuated hooks, and the slinky horn-led For Generations is unexpectedly trad-jazzy. It’s cinematic, accessible, rhythmically contemporary, beautifully constructed and played – even if it might seem overly radio-friendly and short of improv surprises for more jazz-rigorous listeners.
