Soulquarians, Electric Lady & Voodoo Album

The Soulquarians

• A collective of musicians including D'Angelo, Questlove, James Poyser, and J Dilla.

• Revolutionized modern jazz with a unique funk sound.

• Convened to create a follow-up to D'Angelo's debut album, Brown Sugar.

Electric Lady Studios

• Chosen for its historical significance, previously used by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones.

• Provided a creative hub for the Soulquarians and other artists like Common and Mos Def.

• Recording projects often shared personnel and musical ideas.

Creative Independence & Vision

• The Soulquarians prioritized creative independence over commercial norms.

• Russell Elevado noted a movement of artists with a shared vision rooted in hip-hop grooves and old funk records.

Amiri Baraka's "The Changing Same"

• Essay advocating for the fusion of R&B and jazz, influencing the Soulquarian era.

• Championed artists like James Brown, Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler.

Voodoo Album

• D'Angelo's album emerged from the Electric Lady residency, debuting at number one.

• Stood against pop-R&B's digital clarity, opting for a raw, textured sound.

• Drew influences from Prince, Hendrix, James Brown, and Sly and the Family Stone.

Jazz Elements in Voodoo

• Featured jazz musicians like Charlie Hunter and Roy Hargrove.

• Incorporated Afro-Latin vamps and soulful horn lines.

• Emphasized tension between metronomic clarity and hazy imprecision in rhythm.

J Dilla's Influence

• Transformed sampling into an art form, recognized as a guru by musicians.

• Used samples in unconventional ways, resisting rhythm quantization.

• Inspired musicians like D'Angelo and Questlove, leading them "out of the darkness."

Voodoo Tour & Grammys

• Roy Hargrove joined D'Angelo on a world tour, creating a historic musical experience.

• The 2003 Grammys recognized neo soul with the category Urban/Alternative Performance.

Roy Hargrove's RH Factor

• Inspired by Voodoo, Hargrove created Hard Groove at Electric Lady, blending jazz with neo soul.

• Featured collaborations with artists like Erykah Badu, Common, and D'Angelo.

Christian McBride & the Young Lions

• A generation of musicians once defined by conformity now renegotiating the terms.

• McBride experimented with funk and fusion and groove-centric projects.

Robert Glasper & J Dillalude

• Glasper's "J Dillalude" paid homage to J Dilla, blending hip-hop and jazz.

• Glasper recognized Dilla's brand of sorcery, seeing in it a creative impulse closely related to jazz

Robert Glasper Experiment & Black Radio

• The Robert Glasper Experiment blended acoustic jazz, underground hip-hop, and organic R&B.

• Black Radio won a Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2013 and Black Radio 2 yielded another Grammy.

• It featued an array of guest vocalists, including the rapper Lupe Fiasco and the singers Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi.

Snarky Puppy & Genre Bending

• Won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. Their success was reminiscent of that moment.

  • Snarky Puppy blurred genre lines, combining jazz with elements of fusion and groove.

Mark Guiliana & the new rhythm genius

• He is a jazz-trained drummer who combines an aerial view with a microscopic attention to detail.

• Heavily inspired by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, and also jazz drummer Tony Williams.

Kneebody & Post-Rock, hip-hop, electropop, Fusion

• Kneebody created its own niche with a convergence of strategies pulled from indie rock, hip-hop, electropop, and chamber music.

David Bowie & Donny McCaslin Qpaltet

• New York Jazz-Rock association was carried far and wide by a fortuitous association.

• David Bowie was so impressed by the vaulting energy of the band that he designed his next album, Blackstar, around it.

Flying Lotus

• His third album, Cosmogramma, released in 2010 on the British label Warp, meet with near universal acclaim, not only for it's audacious atmospheric canvas but also for it's tether to an organic experimental tradition.

Revive Music Present: Supreme Sonacy

• Compilation album showcasing both crossover and black music

The author is arguing that a collective of musicians identified as The Soulquarians, spearheaded a movement that prioritized creative independence while fusing various genres like R&B, jazz, and hip-hop. This movement influenced many artists and led to the emergence of new sounds and approaches to music, which challenged commercial norms and quantization, and embraced raw and textured sounds.