The Pollyseeds - Sounds of Crenshaw, Vol 1

The Guardian 60

(Ropeadope)

For more than a decade, producer and multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin has served as a conduit between LA’s jazz, R&B and hip-hop scenes, the missing link between artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Kamasi Washington and Robert Glasper. His latest project uses some heavyweight jazz talents but takes us into more mainstream R&B territory, with decent neosoul numbers including Intentions (featuring Chachi) and You and Me (featuring Rose Gold) mixed with rather bland and soporific fuzak. It only threatens to get interesting when Martin adds some rough edges to the smooth jazz. Funny How Time Flies is a woozy, space-age soul ballad with a munchkinised Vocoder vocal that recalls late-70s Herbie Hancock; Your Space is a piece of quiet storm soul that pits singer Wyann Vaughn against a thumping, disruptive bass drum; Wake Up is a gospel duet for piano and soprano saxophone that recalls one of Chilly Gonzalez’s parlour-piano miniatures.