 By John
Kelman
For his third group album,
keyboardist Andy Milne has dropped the “Cosmic”
and now just refers to his band as “Dapp
Theory”. That aside, nothing much has really
changed; with Y’all Just Don’t Know, he
continues to explore rhythm and harmony; with
elements of hip-hop merging with lessons learned
as part of Steve Coleman’s M-BASE Collective
while, at the same time, telling stories and
offering insights into where he believes
humankind is going. It makes for a heady
mix.
Dapp Theory defies convention. While
incorporating influences from a variety of
sources, Milne has fashioned a band that is
difficult to pigeonhole. Yes, there are elements
of hip-hop, fusion, M-BASE, more traditional
jazz harmony and a taste of the avant-garde; but
in the capable hands of Milne and Dapp Theory,
it all melds into something that rings of the
familiar yet is completely new. Milne’s harmonic
approach, especially on piano, is
unconventional, to say the least; but is
consistently appealing and always seems to make
sense in its genre-bending approach. While most
abstruse on his own material, Milne shows a
clear reverence for what came before in his
reading of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma”, which
features him in an exceptional duet with
harmonica wizard Grégoire Maret.
“Con Alma” segues into “Bermuda Triangle”
which is one of five tunes featuring Kokayi, a
poet who eliminates the preconception that rap
is mindless rhyme. Along with guest Bruce
Cockburn, Kokayi contributes lyrics that are at
times playful, at other times profound.
And what of the connection with Canadian
singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn? Cockburn has
always been an activist, using lyrics to affect
social and political change. Milne, a long-time
fan, managed to connect with Cockburn when he
was about to begin a sabbatical, so the timing
was perfect. Cockburn’s plaintive vocals and
earthy acoustic guitar introduce a different
texture to that group; “Bad Air” starts off
sounding like it could comfortably fit on a
Cockburn album, but then bassist Rich Brown and
drummer Sean Rickman come in with a quirky
rhythm backdrop that refocuses it within the
context of Dapp Theory’s unique sound.
Dapp Theory strives to forge a new sound
from disparate known entities. With Y’all
Just Don’t Know they succeed in a big way;
there is a clear reverence for the many roots of
this music, but a decided push to move things in
new directions as well.
Visit Dapp Theory
on the web, or
Concord
Records
Reviewed by John Kelman
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