Public radio, despite its constant funding cuts, remains a valuable resource for independent artist discovery. I was randomly listening to a local jazz station the other night and came across Gizmo, a talented 21-year-old bassist who recently released his debut album called Red Balloon. After a quick review of his Online assets, it appears his music hasn’t quite made the rounds like it rightfully deserves. He has worked with artists like Bilal and Meshell Ndegeocello, and is now working on crafting his solo career.
That brings us to Red Balloon, which is out now thanks to the good folks at Revivalist. The album is best characterized as fusion, although it represents much more than that. The underlying elements vary from jazz to hip-hop, with a mixture of both recorded and improvisational work. You can definitely tell he comes from the house of Robert Glasper. I’ve included videos for two cuts off the album, “Red Balloon” and “Lift Me Up”. Both of which do a fine job exemplifying the different soundscapes you can expect to hear on Red Balloon.
Gizmo’s Red Balloon is out now via Revivalist.
