Otis Brown III – The Thought Of You

It’s nice when a longtime sideman with big cred finally makes an album as leader. On his debut, drummer Otis Brown III, a veteran of Joe Lovano’s and other fine bands, stakes a position in the groove wing of the jazz revival, where post-bop learning, church raising, and lifelong immersion in hip-hop aesthetics merge. Leaders of this faction abound on “The Thought of You”: ubiquitous pianist Robert Glasper, co-producer Derrick Hodge, Gretchen Parlato, who guests on an oblique remake of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One,” and the elusive Bilal, for a typically laconic vocal spot on the title track, which is actually a three-part piece that weaves through the album. The vibe is cooking-session with breakbeats and soul, until the final third, when church takes over: Two tracks featuring gospel singer Nikki Ross, one of them a long medley, plus earlier songs dedicated to Brown’s wife, make it clear Brown’s values are traditional even when his music isn’t. (By Siddhartha Mitter Globe Correspondent,September 23, 2014, )