by Jacob Strauss

On Tuesday, April 12th, and into the small hours of the morning, Kassa Overall and his ensemble played a set of jazz-infused rap — or rap-infused jazz — at the ’Sco on Oberlin College’s campus.

Kassa Overall, a drummer and a 2005 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory’s Jazz Department, makes records that are confident and imaginative, groovy and avant-garde. He unashamedly mixes underground and alternative rap production and attention to lyricism with an internalized comprehension of all forms of jazz.

No, he is not picking up where Kendrick Lamar left off with To Pimp A Butterfly — Overall has a distinctive ear and omnivorous taste which makes his music singular, a disciple following a revolutionary tradition. [Read more…]