Are you familiar with The Messthetics? Any fan of punk should be. Consisting of bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty from Fugazi, they are joined by guitarist Anthony Pirog to form an instrumental trio that hammers out blistering arrangements. Recently, The Messthetics announced their new LP and it is a collaborative project of epic proportions. The punk icons have teamed up with James Brandon Lewis for a full self-titled outing that is promising to be something special. Set to be released on March 15 via the legendary jazz label Impulse Records.
The lead single from the album, “Emergence”, is as ferociously infectious as you could’ve hoped for. Lewis’ horns soar over a cluster of neck-breaking drums and chugging guitars for otherworldly textures and a warm welcome to the collaboration. The marriage of jazz and punk is a blissful one that flips the concept of “fusion genres” on its head. The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis are tapping into an ancient concept that has been explored in so many wildly imaginative ways.
With the newly formed four-piece prepping their new album, Glide wanted to explore jazz’s influence on not only punk but hip-hop and all other genres as well. We dug deep to find some of the most shining examples of jazz’s influence to unearth 10 of the best jazz bands with tropes of hip-hop and punk fused into them.
Check out Glide’s list of some of our favorite fusion flavors below.
Dinner Party
Members: 9th Wonder, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin
Consisting of some of the coldest modern jazz musicians and the hip-hop expertise of 9th Wonder, Dinner Party has been one of the most exciting super groups to emerge in recent memory. The four-piece first appeared in 2020 after the members individually collaborated for some time on different projects in different capacities. After their successful debut, a remix album followed that featured the likes of Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, and Rapsody. 2023 saw them release the feature-heavy R&B-leaning Enigmatic Society, which had assists from Tank, Arin Ray, and Antt Clemons.
B. Cool-Aid
Members: Ahwlee & Pink Siifu
One of the most eccentric and diverse vocalists in modern hip-hop teams up with one of the most jazz-inclined producers for an onslaught of smooth melodies and thoughtful penmanship. B. Cool-Aid is the neo-soul/jazz duo who just last released the best album of their career and one of the best records of 2023 with their stunning and sprawling concept album Leather Blvd. Before the pair teamed up with the likes of jazz titans like Butcher Brown and V.C.R., the two made their official debut as B. Cool-Aid back in 2016 with the release of their “Dear Summer” single. Since then the duo has released two short yet potent examples of their chemistry with 2017’s Brwn and 2019’s Syrup.
Butcher Brown
Members: DJ Harrison, Marcus Tenney, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville, Andrew Randazzo
Arguably one of the most exciting additions to the jazz world, Virginia’s Butcher Brown is a fearless, creative force that refuses to be complacent. Little known fact, Marcus Tenney is not only the trumpet/saxophone player for Butcher Brown, he has an extensive catalog of self-released hip-hop projects that feature the horn player showcasing his penmanship. Butcher Brown’s 2022 LP Triple Trey started out as a Tenney hip-hop original but the band saw it as more. They took the self-produced instrumentals and rewrote them in a jazz big band format, and the results speak for themselves.
André 3000
Members: Carlos Niño, Nate Mercereau, Surya Botofasina, André 3000
One of the most exciting and enticing results of the hip-hop-to-jazz pipeline is the legendary André 3000’s solo debut from last year. New Blue Sun is a wildly imaginative journey through the pure essence of improvised jazz as 3000 and his band of alt-jazz provocateurs piece together one hell of an album. The legendary wordsmith didn’t waste a breath on a single note, rather focusing his direction on his trusty flute for 8 songs worthy of your undivided attention.
Larry Lovestein
Members: Mac Miller
The brainchild of the late great Mac Miller, Larry Lovestein is a lo-fi jazz project that has Miller handling everything from production and on. The project only released on EP in 2012 but considering we’re still thinking about it over a decade later speaks volumes to Miller’s jazzy alter ego. You is a 5-song project that features stirring ballads set to soft arrangements built on the back of Miller’s gentle crooning.
Us3
Members: Geoff Wilkinson
Geoff Wilkinson was ahead of his time with the work he’s done with Us3, but the ones who do it first never get the credit. Us3 combined the essence of hip-hop with jazz samples and combined it with tropes from jazz to inspire the band’s melodies and song structure. Their 1993 debut Hand On The Torch was created exclusively by sampling Blue Note Records releases, the label would go on to release Us3’s debut.
The Roots
Members: Questlove, Black Thought, Captain Kirk Douglass, James Poyser, Dave Guy, Ian Hendrickson-Smith
The Roots took the relationship between jazz and hip-hop and flipped it on its head to create one of the most exciting and expansive discographies in modern music. The Philadelphia-bred group can take on any form at any time as long as Questlove and Black Thought are at the core of the project, the band can’t miss. We all know them and we all love them, The Roots are a national treasure with a deep discography to explore and gasp at.
Guru
Members: Guru
When Guru passed, the world of fusion lost one of its most courageous participants. The Gang Starr vocalist built one of the most pristine discographies in hip-hop with DJ Premier, but it is his fearless solo work that landed him on this list. His solo debut Jazzmatazz had the rapper rhyming alongside jazz greats like Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Donald Byrd. With Guru producing the LP himself, he brought in a live band and combined the spontaneity of jazz with the hard-hitting tones of hip-hop for one of the most underrated and groundbreaking albums of the 90s.
Yesterday’s New Quintet
Members: Madlib
Yesterday’s New Quintet is one of the most prolific and important jazz collectives of the modern time. With super-producer Madlib at the helm, he samples different eras of areas of jazz to create a unique sound for each made-up member of Yesterday’s New Quintet. It all culminated in the Yesterday’s Universe compilation that was released in 2007. The compilation birthed a plethora of side projects for Madlib, it also seemingly gave him the keys to the coveted Blue Note Records vault. He used said vault to sample and create Shades of Blue, another jazzy outing from Madlib and one of the best albums in his ever-evolving list of credits.
Painkiller
Members: John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Mick Harris
The career of John Zorn sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie about lost alien musicians trying to adapt to Earth’s melodies and musical tones. The genre-less bandleader had a million examples of the bridge between jazz and punk but none more potent and underappreciated than Painkiller. The trio placed Zorn’s frantic horn playing next to the intimidating tempos and tones of hardcore for a band that shatters the concept of avant-garde.
