In the Cut

When you see someone patting themselves on the back for having invented hip-hop, it is prudent to remember that the music was actually born in the minds of a hundred New York dancers and DJs and rappers growing up with albums like In The Cut. Pianist Ray Bryant — along with arranger (and Moogist) Charles Stepney and a sick rhythm section — runs through instrumental versions of Jackson 5 and Herbie Hancock and Thom Bell and Chuck Mangione, partly because he had to crank out albums but mostly because he loved to play. Everyone vibes the hell out with a half-dozen weird noises and there is no pretension to anything here but tearing it up.