Jazz, as it evolved, took on two very distinct tempos most often classified as “hot” and “cold” jazz styles. Hot jazz was fast, more experimental and got folks on their feet and moving whereas cold or cool jazz evoked a mellow tone with a swinging vibe that allowed them to ease and ride the notes. Eliot Lipp’s latest offering, How We Do, would fall under the latter of those two sun-genres when applied to electro.

Seven years ago Eliot Lipp was working in a Los Angeles coffee shop, since retiring from life as a barista and dropping his first album, S/X on Eastern Developments the Tacoma, Washington native has released ten studio albums, How We Do, the latest in a line of genre-shifting synth beats and creative sampling that mesh with the “cool” sentiment that have the feelings of Chet Baker composition. While the music is different, the notes and schemes relay the same feeling of airiness and light flowing beats.

Eliot Lipp and Jasia 10 – “Acen It” 

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For his latest offering, Lipp teams up with fellow Washingtonian Jasia 10. The unsigned artist from the west coast shows what he can do, lending a signature tone that effectively mirrors Lipp’s own style which meshes elements of several genres and instrumentation to create something wholly unique and distinguishable. Lipp often performs with a live drummer and it is that element that drives many of the tracks on How We Do

On “Acen It” Lipp reaches back to his 70s-fusion influence pulling together a tightly wound horn section with a rollicking bass line that keeps the ears in tune and the head bobbing. The clean drumlines throughout the track lend effective transitions for the beat to build to a point before toppling down, waiting on the drums to kick it back into place. Of the albums songs, “Acen It” shows a mastering of composition and arrangement that plays together in perfect syncopation.

Lipp and Jasia 10 show off the full smorgasbord of what they are capable of on “Genesis”. Starting of slow and swinging, the tune plays off well-laid synth notes and billowing upbeats that play to Lipp’s love of hip-hop. The track reminded me a lot of early RJD2 and the light; airy feel is kept constant throughout the track before morphing into something completely different at the 3:20 mark. Adding throbbing synths and quick percussion, the walk in the park takes on a transient dream-like state that throbs out until the end of the track. Where many producers would have felt satisfied, Lipp pushes the envelope to create something endearing and memorable.

Lipp and Jasia came together to create a very impressive album in How We Do. The heavenly feel the beats bring make for easy listening and the album is perfect to vibe out to in any situation. Lipp will be rolling through Arizona with shows in Tempe and Tucson October 6 and 8. It is impressive that Lipp brought on a local talent to do the bidding on the new album but the gamble pays off, a throwback to earlier times while moving the genre progressively forward at all costs.