Jazzyfatnastees

If you’re a close reader of liner notes of hip-hop albums you will probably notice the name Jazzyfatnastees from their appearances on recordings by the Pharcyde, Outkast and The Roots. Currently a part of the Roots extended family, The Once And Future represents the first release on the Roots’ newly minted Motive label, and heavily features group players such as drummer ?uestlove, bassist Leonard Hubbard and sometimes keyboardist Scott Storch. Originally a quartet, the group is now trimmed to the duo of Mercedes Martinez and Tracey Moore. The several years in waiting for this project to materialise have clearly paid dividends for the synergy between the singer-songwriters, most notable on harmonic retro-soul gems “Unconventional Ways”, “Hear Me” and “The Wound.” It’s a shame then that the set never really recovers from the diversions away from lush wholly satisfying grooves into sparse, overlong solo ballads in the disc’s second half that disrupt the disc’s early high standards.