Songs of the Day

Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.) [ft. Ledisi]:  Love the backbeat on this one - it's nice and laid back.  This groove, and the lyrics ("just give me the sunshine with your smile") fit perfectly with this rainy weather - giving me a nice pick-me-up.  The tone of Ledisi's voice works really well with the what Glasper and the Experiment are playing.  I love that all of the songs allow Glasper to have improvisational freedom, without clouding the other artists.  Great harmonies, courtesy of Ledisi.  Great minimal futuristic sounds in the back - gotta dig the subtlety.  Dig the gradually fade out to the solo "okay."  The ending spoken piece is on point.  This is exactly how I feel about the music industry today, and it is more than refreshing to hear it put into the atmosphere, especially putting it on the album itself. Solid, solid.

Move Love (ft KING):  So stoked to hear KING on this track.  The founder and keys player, Paris Strother, was the person to show me around Berklee when I first visited, and it's so great to see her doing such great things.  That being said, this may be my favorite track on the album.  The groove on this is oh so solid, down to the little snaps (holdin it down, no doubt).  The breakdown is really what gets me - I wasn't expecting to go to such a slow meter, but it makes it that much funkier.  And it still stays solid when it picks up.  The vocal harmonies add great body to everything, and gives the groove a "floaty" feeling that keeps my attention.  Yes.

Ah Yeah (ft Musiq Soulchild & Chrisette Michele):  Man, I feel like I haven't heard anything from Musiq in a minute!  Oh so tasty!  First of all, the opening vocal harmonies got me hooked - love the tone, movement, placement, everything about them.  Second,  the opening line "I think beauty's overrated" kind of makes me weak.  I find the melody of it, and the way he sings it really enchanting, especially with that nice pause afterward.  I actually like that opening 30 seconds probably more than the song as a whole, but the whole song is still really good.  I've never heard of Chrisette Michele before, but she's got a good voice.  A tad breathy for my taste, but I think it works with the tune.  Great solo at the end.  Dig it.