Jazz has many iterations worth loving, but the one that has stuck with me the longest is when it sounds effortlessly cool. Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker were my introduction to the genre, followed by Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Dave Brubeck, and many others carried that hip energy that scared the normies, conjuring images of smoky night clubs, sunglasses indoors, and a room full of people from all walks of life soaking up immaculate vibes. Nowadays, that era of jazz almost feels stuffy, fawned over by fans and vinyl collectors with an air of academic appreciation. Sure, it takes immense talent to be great at jazz, and as a cultural and musical movement deserves study, but the rebelliousness seems tempered in the professorial approach to jazz. Thankfully, jazz experimentation has gotten wilder over the years, and we live in a fantastic era for this music and its many, ever changing permutations that still freak out the squares.
There are times, as thrilling as they can be, that modern jazz experimentation also starts to feel academic or so adventurous that the easy, cool feeling that the old masters conjured gets swallowed under the urge to push the genre further. Sometimes, you just need that sound to hit the old fashioned way. I felt that hit a few months ago. I was staying late at work, catching some extra hours by unloading pallets in the store room, working up a sweat when I popped on Dybbuk Tse! by Yoni Mayraz and listened to it for the first time. I don’t know how it landed on my radar, but gad damn if this thing wasn’t exactly what I needed. The time and heavy lifting flew by with my ears filled with slick jazz funk with touches of hip hop. Now, two years after the release of that album, Yoni Mayraz returns with Dogs Bark Babies Cry.
Right out of the gate, those sweet vibes return with a laid back bassline from Tom Driessler that meets up with the kinetic energy of Zoe Pascal‘s drumming and the relaxed organ and retro-sci-fi synthesizers from Mayraz on “Darvish Records”. Pascal’s skitters, switches, and fills can feel busy throughout the album, but they never overplay their hand, locking into fantastic pockets and setting the energy for the dynamics of each track. The same can be said for Driessler and Mayraz, the former’s electric bass swings and grooves providing the perfect low-end, popping up with flourishes of funk (see “DBBC (Interlude)”) while Mayraz’s organ and synths alternate between catchy hooks, driving solos, atmospheric textures, and Les Baxter-inspired retro-futurism. The trio exhibits great chemistry and sound tight and polished on every track, from the snappy “Rooftops” to the melancholic “Family Affairs” or the spaced out “Mushroom Hour”. Mayraz has a wide range of emotions and expressions arranged throughout Dogs Bark Babies Cry that keep each of its 16 tracks compelling without going too far off the rails.
Mayraz welcomes in some excellent guests on several tracks, emphasizing and complementing the cool-as-fuck atmosphere. Tenderlonious lends flute to the excellent “Ghosttown!” which is currently my favorite track, a funky hustle through neo-noir back allies like a vintage cat-and-mouse detective chase. Fly Anakin raps over “Ice Cold” adding another heater to the jazz rap cannon and adding to his already stellar year. JSPHYNX delivers a tremendous bop trumpet feature on “Exarchaeia” that Mayraz matches in the second half of the song while it sounds like JSPHYNX dipped into another room to add distant textures, a very cool effect that is enhanced by headphone listening. Callum Connell‘s saxophone lends itself nicely to the bossa nova funk of “Vacation”, and Miriam Aderfis‘s harp turns the piano-loop boom bap of “Trip To Japan” into magic.
Dogs Bark Babies Cry was recorded in North London at Konk Studios, founded by The Kinks and birthplace of many incredible albums, including my favorite album from 2024, Lives Outgrown by Beth Gibbons as well as classics by The Kinks, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode, Adele, and many other outstanding records. The studio’s unique acoustics and vintage gear give this album a warm, lived-in feel, like thrifting the coziest sweater that quickly becomes your go-to. There is something to that studio that just works, especially for an album like Dogs Bark Babies Cry whose vintage feel could place it anywhere in music history in the last 30 to 50 years.
The warmth and easy coolness, the sharp, yet nuanced performances, and the wide range of moods make Dogs Bark Babies Cry a perfect record to move from summer into autumn’s cooler weather. Yoni Mayraz‘s compositions and his stellar stable of collaborators are becoming a signature sound. This album builds off of his last one with more texture, flourish, and focus that cures the soul like a bowl of soup and invigorates like a strong breakfast tea, each listen embedding that sound into your brain until it is a comfort that feels like it has always been there: cool, rare, and elegant.
