For those not in the know, Baltimore-based pianist Lafayette Gilchrist reconvenes his hip-hop, funk and go-go fueled ensemble New Volcanoes for the exuberant Move With Love (via Morphius Records), the acclaimed band’s first release in seven years.

The album arrives as Gilchrist embarks on a new chapter in his ever-unpredictable career, as he takes over the piano chair in the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, including the band’s recent performance at the Kennedy Center in his native Washington, DC, celebrating newly-minted NEA Jazz Master Marshall Allen.

While the title Move With Love captures the infectious, joyous, groove-heavy sound that New Volcanoes has honed over the last two decades, it’s also a plea for community during turbulent times. “We need to move with love,” Gilchrist insists, “because the whole world seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The only way to move towards the future is with humanity, with compassion, with care – with love.”

1. Cut Through the Chase [9:01]
2. Move with Love [9:09]
3. Bamboozled [8:42]
4. Basta [9:52]
5. Baby Steps [7:14]
6. Cross Pollination Aggregation [5:01]

Drawing on the span of jazz history from stride to free improv with inspiration from hip-hop, funk, & DC go-go, this brand-new recording opens on a veritably anthemic cut for all the country’s working people, expansive 10-minute Cut Through the Chase and then brings us some vibrantly stealth-liked grooves that drive the title track Move with Love, the inspiringly driven Bamboozled which is itself backed by the funkily-grooved musical magnificence of the go-go imbibed 10-minute Basta (an Italian interjection meaning, “Enough!”), the set rounding out on the transitionally reflective Baby Steps, closing on the deep-bottom grooves and infectious rhythms of Cross Pollination Aggregation.

Musicians:
lafayette gilchrist-keyboards
carl filipiak-guitar
leo maxey -trumpet
christian hizon - trombone
anthony “blue” jenkins- bass guitar
shaquim muldrow - tenor sax
kevin pinder - drum set
bashi rose - percussion