'Like a Tree It Grows' by Igmar Thomas' Revive Big Band

Hip-hop and jazz have been intrinsically linked for decades now.  For devoted fans who had become accustomed to trawling through the inlay cards of albums by Pete Rock, A Tribe Called Quest and Gang Starr to pick out names of collaborators and producers of tracks, their path would inevitably lead them to those very architects whose music formed the basis of songs all of those years later.  For a generation of music fan, hip-hop's greatest gift was the introduction to jazz via the works of Roy Ayers, Bobby Hutcherson, Ronnie Laws and Herbie Hancock.

In the words of trumpeter and band leader Igmar Thomas, "all Black music can be traced back to one root".  And while it is a path rooted in respect that sees us look back to the genre's architects, it can also be a path that takes us forward towards new musical discoveries.

As part of the impassioned vision of Revivalist founder Meghan Stabile - a baton now in the hands of the Revive Big Band composer and band leader Igmar Thomas - the mission statement of bridging the gap between jazz and hip-hop audiences remains and takes a big step forward following the release of 'Like a Tree It Grows'.

Much like Revive's 2015 collaboration with Blue Note Records for the 'Supreme Sonacy' project, 'Like a Tree It Grows' furthers the Revive brand and also marks the debut from Thomas' long-running Big Band project.  As a highly-educated and highly-decorated trumpeter and collaborator in his own right, Thomas has secured a litany of collaborations alongside Esperanza Spalding, Nigel Hall, The Nth Power and Kamasi Washington as well as touring duties with equally revered names.  Much of Thomas' musical ideologies have been rooted within that accessibility for jazz music and reimagining of ones' expectations of the genre and its framework.

Over the course of the sixteen tracks that comprise 'Like a Tree It Grows', there is a scintillating mish-mash of ideas and concepts that see Thomas & company - in Revive tradition - paying homage while carving their own path.  An album that openly wears its influences on its sleeve soars throughout with imagination and purpose.  The enthralling reinvention of the seminal Gang Starr anthem 'Words I Manifest' proves a definitive album highlight as the classic DJ Premier sample-based soundscape finds itself at the loving hands of the Revive Big Band ensemble with Raydar Ellis stepping in for the dearly-departed Guru.

With a phenomenal roll-call of jazz, soul and hip-hop talent enlisted, 'Like a Tree It Grows' thrives from the assistance of Bilal, Talib Kweli, Jean Baylor, Terrace Martin, Marcus Strickland, Marc Cary, Ben Williams, Brent Birckhead and Theo Croker, mentioning just a few.

'Like a Tree It Grows' feels like it carries an incredible weight of expectation upon its shoulders: it's an album that serves as the first Revive Big Band release in the group's fourteen years, an album that takes creative risks in the hopes of inspiring others to think outside of established frameworks and it's an album that serves as part of the legacy of the beloved Meghan Stabile who sadly passed away in 2022.  Igmar Thomas and the collective embrace these challenges head-on and deliver a fantastic project worthy of Revive's lineage to this point.