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This soundtrack for an as-yet-unreleased movie by French director Klaus Tontine might best be described as abstract funk — music that percolates but maintains a textural quality that makes it as much about mood as about movement. And the mood’s cool, as in Miles Davis cool: muted guitar picking from Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore’s conversational drumming, the tumbling (and occasionally howling) notes of Skerik’s sax, and vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon’s patter create a world of their own. It’s a distinctly modern world, too, incorporating influences from rock, Afro-Caribbean music, Eno ambiance, Philip Glass “process,” and historic jazz. Yet there’s a distinctly sultry New Orleans flavor to it all, in the lilt of the melodic phrasing and the bottom-line swivel of the beat — qualities that keep even the edgiest turns easy on the ears. These 11 pieces are a smart, smooth, and somewhat risky hybrid and a leap up from the group’s 2003 full-length debut. It’s music to get lost in — or maybe to get found.
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