Cautious Clay – KARPEH
Two years after his “Deadpan Love” debut, Joshua Karpeh, or Cautious Clay, returns with his Blue Note debut “KARPEH”. The Cleveland-born multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer, has come up with a genre-defying album which spans everything from jazz to indie pop and beyond. Cautious can be heard on the album’s 15 tracks on flute, bass clarinet, vocals, tenor and soprano sax, bass, guitar, and synthesizer. The album will be out this Friday. And on vinyl too! Several tracks have already been released, like the amazing “Ohio” with its eerie vocals, a haunting “Between The Sheets”/Isley Brothers groove, and superb production. Collaborators on the album are Blue Note stalwarts Joel Ross, Ambrose Akinmusire, Julian Lage, Immanuel Wilkins, and Julius Rodriguez, among others. “Another Half”, a beautiful indie pop singer/songwriter ballad, shows Cautious’ smoother, softer and vulnerable style and his utterly robust voice. And “Yesterday’s Price”, the third track already released, features him on a rugged tenor sax before trumpeter Akinmusire chimes in with a strong solo.
“Fishtown” comes close to the afore-mentioned “Ohio”, including magical falsetto vocals and a dreamy backbeat. “Glass Face” features psychedelic vocals from Pakistani vocalist Aftab and mad bass work from Cautious’ uncle Kai Eckhardt. There is pretty stimulating drum work, courtesy of Sean Rickman, on the energizing “The Tide Is My Witness”. And Cautious is back with a moving ballad, “Repeat Myself”, and a pretty introspective, beautiful story on “Unfinished House”, another wonderful melody. Julian Lage plays extraordinarily virtuosic on “Blue Lips”. Percussion and flute ride the wave on “Tears Of Fate”, another lucid instrumental. The album concludes with the almost divine, very intimate and at the same time cozy “Moments Stolen”, where Cautious once again wins over with his flamboyant vocal.