Forq - Big Party (GroundUP)

Given the wide range of music in the air in the twenty-first century, it’s no surprise that today’s fusion acts do far more than simply marry jazz harmonies to psychedelic rock and funk. Alongside their compadres Snarky Puppy, with whom they often share membership, freewheeling New York/Texas hybrid Forq is one of the most omnivorous of the new breed. The first track of Big Party, the collective’s seventh album, starts off with “Into Bright,” which adds jazz improvisation to electrodisco. By third track “Big 3,” the funk gets heavier and the guitar comes to the fore, coming off like Jimi Hendrix collaborating with Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters. By the time “The Grotto” takes on groovy poptronica, “Kick the Curb” twists soul jazz, and “Echo” slides into lush balladry, it’s clear that boundaries are not a word in Forq’s vocabulary. Keyboardist/bandleader Henry Hey, guitarist Chris McQueen, and their mates can clearly make anything into jazz, and they have an absolute blast doing it on Big Party.