If keyboard player Marcus Johnson had never released another record, his stunning ‘88 Ways To Love’ would have been good enough for me. Taken from his 1998 album ‘Chocolate City Groovin’ it remains one of my favorite contemporary jazz tracks of all time so when I became aware that he had teamed with the French DJ and producer Young Pulse to form the band Juris I was more than interested.
The duo’s new single is titled ‘Flying High’ and comes from the CD ‘Eiffel Tower’ that is intended to evoke the mood of Paris, where Marcus and Young Pulse first met while playing music throughout the city.
‘Flying High’ is an edgily jazzy number laced with old-school hip-hop in a way that typifies contemporary jazz when done the European way.