In our KLOF Mix Series back in 2020 (No 7) we opened with two tracks from Force Majeure, a lockdown album by bassist Dezron Douglas & harpist Brandee Younger; it was an album that resonated deeply, lifting me above the lockdown fog. From the off, Douglas places you in a good place with his brief intro titled coffee…”you know what is always great? Coffee”.
It seems Douglas is something of a coffee aficionado and his new single and video ‘More Coffee Please’ testifies to that – an impressive showcase for the bass, and a beautiful homage to the bean. As his label, the much-loved and well-respected International Anthem say:
“Anyone who knows Douglas Dezron knows how much of a coffee aficionado he is… the highest standards, only the good shit! They also know how high his standards are for melodically massive, limber low-end lumber thrums… That is: Bass Lines.” More Coffe Please is his second single to be taken from his powerhouse LP ATALAYA on International Anthem.
International Anthem: Followers of contemporary jazz might recognise Dezron for his bass work behind Pharoah Sanders, Louis Hayes, or Ravi Coltrane. Steady International Anthem listeners might remember him from the New York side of Makaya McCraven‘s Universal Beings. More recently we presented Force Majeure, Dezron’s sublime duo record with harpist Brandee Younger, which compiled the best of livestream performances from their Harlem apartment during the original covid lockdown. That album, which came out in December of 2020, reflected the speed and feeling of the moment while somehow simultaneously distracting from the harsh reality of it. It also captured a very vulnerable, intimate, and real impression of Dezron on double bass, sharing his power and truth without abandon.
Dezron’s upcoming new album ATALAYA is alive. That is, ‘alive’ in all the ways that jazz is at its best–as a pure and personal expression of Black Music channelled through time-honoured traditions by a group of musicians who practice sonic coherence through musical unity. As Dezron puts it in the opening statement of his liner notes for the album: “Mysticism, Magic, Faith, Love, Power, Discernment! These are words that embody the creative process of Music.”
ATALAYA is released on 11 November – Pre-Order: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/atalaya