Incognito: Bees + Things + Flowers

[9 January 2007]

By PopMatters Staff

Incognito
Bees + Things + Flowers
(Narada Jazz)

“Crave” [streaming]
“Deep Waters” [streaming]
“Everybody Loves the Sunshine” [streaming]
“Everyday” [streaming]
Bluey’s podcast about Bees + Things + Flowers [MP3]

“Over a 27-year career, London-based Mobo Award winners Incognito made stateside strides with both dreamy urban adult/Quiet Storm fare such as “Deep Waters” and “Still a Friend of Mine,” as well as jazzy horn-kissed club jams like “Everyday” and a cover of the Ronnie Laws/Side Effect classic “Always There.” Fans will be glad to know that all four of those songs can be found on their latest album, Bees + Things + Flowers—only they’ll sound nothing like the arrangements to which they’ve grown accustomed.” That Bees + Things + Flowers was recorded in just six consecutive days speaks volumes for the organic flow that defined the proceedings. For the horn arrangements, Bluey chose the burnished glow of euphonium and flugelhorn over the typically punchier saxophone, trumpet and trombone configuration. Strings were added to several of the songs in one half-day session. Overall, the band gelled like never before. “Part of the reason for that,” Bluey adds jokingly, “is that the musicians love football (soccer) so much that they were doing first takes just so they could get back to the ‘tele’ and watch the World Cup! It was summer and the sun was baking down. London isn’t usually like that. The atmosphere was like a celebration—a very healing, soothing and energy-giving thing. It made us forget all the troubles of the world for awhile.”

Published at: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/incognito-bees-things-flowers/