New funk swing? Indie jazz? Hipsway? Mocean Worker, the pseudonym of Adam Dorn (and pronounced “motion worker”) makes crisp, inventive, everything-old-is-new-again jazzy instrumentals that are lively and bumpy. So much of the modern jazz I hear is either dull or downright derivative, sounding like it should be a music bed for a vocal track or like something my Dad used to listen to. (I’m not a jazz fan. Not even Miles or Herbie. And don’t bother dropping comments telling me I’m wrong or I should hear so-and-so.)
MoWo is different, though. It sounds like party music. It sounds like fun. It’s sexy and innocent, innovative and exciting, yet clearly rooted in more traditional sounds. Check out “Shake Ya Boogie,” for example, in which classic jazz riffs combine with pop hooks and force you to do exactly as the song’s name commands. Then there’s the dreamy “songnumber3.†It’s a sweet piano rhythm, constantly pressing forward, like driving in the rain at night. Featuring music from Herb Alpert, Marcus Miller (on my favorite cut–“Brown Liquor”), and many others, this is some really cool stuff. Ya dig?
