“A lot of people don’t see hip-hop producers having a musician’s mind,” remarks El-P in a bonus interview track on his new album, High Water. The producer/MC is a legendary hip-hop innovator (as the mastermind behind both Company Flow and the Definitive Jux label), and this is the bravest move of an already impressive career. Joining forces with The Blue Series Continuum, a free jazz collective featuring such indelible voices as pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker, El-P creates an interplanetary ambiance that is as powerful and personal as his most raucous rap songs. The producer provided the band with basic compositions of each chart, let them loose and recorded their interpretations. The results have the immediacy of a live record, coupled with some amazing post-session flourishes, namely the guttural yells on “Get Modal” and the haunting, electrosynth squeals that permeate the entire work. Bookended by two serene piano vignettes, High Water flows as a singular piece. The high point is “When The Moon Was Blue,” a dark, bluesy cut driven by the straight-from-the-gut emotion of guest vocalist Harry Keys (who happens to be El-P’s father). Keys’ gravelly performance is a chilling echo of Tom Waits and R.L. Burnside, and his son’s knob-twisting talents maximize the dramatic effect, resulting in a track rife with the power of a cold, murderous gale. For anyone that doubts the inherent musical prowess of a great hip-hop producer, this album is a revelation.
Appeared in the January 22, 2004, issue of Artvoice.