A jazz and calypso celebration on the ruins of civilization.
In the contemporary jazz of recent years, it has been almost impossible to get past John Caroll Kirby. Not only was he extremely productive – since 2017 he has released an album every year, sometimes even two – but also worked as a producer, pianist and composer with artists such as Frank Ocean, Solange or Miley Cyrus, collected for his collaborations indie Awards just like Grammys. On BLOWOUT he now combines his twisted and playful, somnambulistic jazz sound with electronic excursions, with Caribbean calypso.
The result? Is as life-affirming as it is permeated by a tropical melancholy. The heat, it can also make you crazy – the album title also suggests that: Does Kirby mean a party here or absolute destruction? Maybe both. He was inspired, he explains, by “failed utopias” such as the Fyre Festival or the end-time cult “Heaven’s Gate”. In contrast to these examples, however, Kirby doesn’t fail at all with this album. He manages to transport humor, a wink and melancholy through sound – and all this in a feather-light, lively outfit that goes wonderfully with long, warm days on a picnic blanket. Dance into the sunset optional.