The symbiotic relationship between hip-hop and jazz has such deep roots at this point that we've seen multiple evolutions of this hybridization: the live bands who emulate and elaborate on the break-looping structures of the beat, the producers who use sample-based beats to imitate an ensemble of musicians, and the composers who take the technologically derived mechanical reproductions of hip-hop production and transmute them into malleable improvisational structures. East London-rooted pianist/rapper/composer Alfa Mist's sound seems to acknowledge the moves his precursors made in all these modes (even when he doesn't always use them himself) and the ensuing work he's made synthesizes those disparate approaches into a form of soul-jazz that's in constant recursive communication with this relationship. If that means Variables simultaneously evokes the '60s and '70s jazz records beloved by Golden Era producers and the beats those producers made from those records in the '80s and '90s, it does so without freezing itself in either of those eras—or even in the super-mellow post-Dilla/Nujabes "lo-fi beats" atmosphere these hybrids usually result in. His range is broad but links up ideas in a way that flows logically; the way "Foreword" presents a traditional bop-rooted charge out the gate and then switches up its rhythm to a swing-heavy take on trap drums is only the most audacious example. "The Gist" pulls off a subtler trick to stirring effect, with the rhythm's cymbal-stuttering fluidity egging on Alfa's electric piano until its glimmering tone starts radiating volcanic heat. And "BC" hits a sweet spot of drum'n'bass freneticism and Eddie Henderson-ian cosmic-fusion atmospherics that quickly unfurls into a spectacularly dynamic succession of intense solos. But Variables is never content to remain in one mode, and tracks like the boom-bap Rhodes-and-vibes loner rumination raps "Borderline" and "4th Feb (Stay Awake)," the highlife-inflected warm drones of Bongeziwe Mabandla feature "Apho," and Kaya Thomas-Dyke's airy yearning on the folky R&B of "Aged Eyes" show another way into this world—one where you don't need to be a crate digger to find new genres to stretch your wings in. © Nate Patrin/Qobuz

Primarily known as an avant-garde jazz drummer, Tyshawn Sorey is also an adept classical composer whose music doesn't so much straddle genres as leap over them. Whether playing with his own groups, like his trio with pianist Kris Davis and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, or with such luminaries as trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, Sorey has proven himself a mutative player with a sympathetic ear for highly impressionistic group interplay. So sympathetic, in fact, that he often melds so deeply into the overall group sound that you're left with less a sense of Sorey's own playing than of the group's. On his 2016 solo effort, 2016's classically inclined The Inner Spectrum of Variables, Sorey takes this ego-less aesthetic to new heights with his composition for piano trio and string trio. Acting as drummer and conductor, Sorey is joined on these languid, gorgeously rendered compositions by pianist Cory Smythe and bassist Chris Tordini, as well as violinist Chern Hwei Fung, violist Kyle Armbrust, and cellist Rubin Kodheli. Even for most avant-garde jazz fans familiar with Sorey's work, The Inner Spectrum of Variables will play as a straight classical composition. Which isn't to say that there aren't moments of groove-oriented jazz here. There are, as evidenced by the roiling "Movement III," which finds Sorey setting an angular string melody against a kinetically funky Cecil Taylor-esque piano and drum figure. Primarily however, Sorey offers up three largely piano-and-string-driven movements spread across two discs. Stylistically, his work, especially his writing for piano, evinces an impressionistic quality. In fact, the introductory "Movement I" is a delicately executed solo piano feature for Smythe that sounds like sunlight dancing across water -- it brings to mind similar works by Claude Debussy. That said, much of the playing on display on The Inner Spectrum of Variables, especially the droney, ominously sculpted "Movement IV," has a modern edge that comes closer to the work of 20th century composers like Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Pierre Boulez. Ultimately, Sorey has crafted an album of deeply hued, emotionally nuanced compositions that subtly combines both his classical and avant-garde roots. © Matt Collar /TiVo