Sly Reimagined • Global Noize • Zoho Roots • Producer: Jason Miles • Score: 8 out of 10
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sly Stone turned 70 this year – and the party was at Jason Miles’ studio! Vibing with the hipsters and members of his exotic jazz-fusion ensemble Global Noize (the core of which is ethereal vocalist Falu and turntable master DJ Logic)—as well as original Family Stone drummer Greg Errico, Nona Hendryx and Roberta Flack—the keyboardist/producer creates an inspiring fusion of jazz, R&B, hip-hop and funk, crazy-deep bass bottoms and ethereal dreaminess, all wrapped in a swirl of transcendent world rhythms. Beyond celebrating the ongoing possibilities of funk the way Sly and his generation imagined it, Miles repurposes the classics as contemporary expressions that are as relevant to the modern world’s issues as the originals were to their moment of social revolution – Jonathan Widran
