JJ WHITEFIELD presents Forced Meditation

Having plied his trade around the world for more than three decades, German guitarist, bandleader and musical explorer JJ Whitefield has always infused his music with a deep sense of authenticity. This natural quality has helped him build an extensive and varied body of work that has remained timeless, even as many of his contemporaries have faded away.

In the early 1990s, as numerous UK bands were being signed by major labels and found mainstream chart success during the Acid Jazz and Rare Groove boom, Whitefield co-founded The Poets of Rhythm. The group self-released their own uncompromising, hard-edged version of 1970s street funk on the then completely unfashionable 7-inch single format. In doing so, they anticipated the Deep Funk movement by almost a decade.

Thirty years later, despite many retro-focused bands following in their footsteps, few have come close to matching the raw energy and spirit of those early Poets records.

Since then, Whitefield has explored countless new musical forms and side projects. He has released further funk-driven work with his own band under the name Karl Hector, appearing on respected labels such as Stones Throw, Daptone, Ninja Tune, Mo’Wax, Strut and others.

A passionate music lover, explorer and record collector, Whitefield has always allowed his expanding interests to flow naturally into his music. Over the years, his sound has absorbed influences from Ethiopian jazz, West African funk and highlife, as well as Krautrock and ambient music, the latter explored through his Rodinia project.

More recently, Whitefield has begun to explore the cosmic realms of what is now often called spiritual jazz. This is the space he inhabits on The Infinity of Nothingness.

The album presents a mature, delicate and meditative collection of orchestrations. Like much of Whitefield’s best work, it stays true to its main influences, most notably Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders, yet it never feels like an imitation or mere homage.

With subtle touches of hip-hop, library music and avant-garde elements woven throughout, the record carries a hypnotic, trance-like flow. It begins with the sparse, processional opener Nothingness and unfolds through the three-part Infinity Suite of Time, Space and Energy.

As he did as a schoolboy with The Poets of Rhythm, Whitefield once again achieves something truly rare. He creates music that stands proudly alongside that of his greatest influences and will itself endure the test of time.

 

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Presented by: hhv

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Photos: Daniel Wanders