Sam Barsh "Straight08" CD

Straight08 marks a powerhouse debut from the supergroup of Grammy-winning keyboardist Sam Barsh, Grammy-winning trumpeter Keyon Harrold, and legendary Grammy-nominated drummer Mark Guiliana.

Featuring a seamless, genre-mixing sound — Barsh backs the band with an 808 key-bass — and headlined by the trio’s hard-grooving, improvisational chemistry, Straight08 expands the boundaries of contemporary jazz in thrilling fashion.

“What a great pair of cats to do an album with,” says Barsh. “Everyone sounds great together, everyone’s into it. Both Keyon and Mark are like day ones for me. I met Keyon in high school. Mark was the first friend I made in college. This was a pleasure to make. It feels like a vertical integration of everything I work on.”

Barsh represents the lynchpin of the band’s sound. He’s one of the industry’s go-to figures on how to blend jazz and hip-hop, having racked up multiple Grammys and 22 Gold and Platinum certifications across collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Anderson .Paak, Doja Cat, and The Weeknd.

It shows. His use of 808 on Straight08 is revelatory (see his walking basslines on “The Earl of Essex County,” “Green Chimneys,” and elsewhere). “I didn't set out going, I want to try jazz with 808,” he notes. “Just from genre mixing for so many years, it got to a place where it sounds organic and has evolved to work.” In the larger context of the album, it represents just one side of the sophisticated, thoughtful attention to harmony we hear at all times in his keyboard playing (“Straight08”).

On drums, Guiliana is the trio’s pulse. He and Barsh are locked in, whether the feel is laid-back (“East Flatbush Pimp Walk”), swinging (“Fergumette Park,”), or anywhere in between. His half-time grooves, combined with Barsh’s basslines, hit as hard as any trap beat you’ll hear (“Todd 4,” “The Corrugation”).

Atop it all sits Harrold, his sleek lines dancing over the boom and bounce of Barsh and Guiliana. He is a fitting melody man for this group: a cool mix of swag and deep musicality that feels right at home in its cutting edge sound.

“From the time we were set up in the studio, we cut this record in four hours,” reflects Barsh. “The fact that it was so easy to make… it’s just a win-win.”

The only hard part? “We just have to find time, you know, to occasionally be in the same room.”