Legendary percussionist Steve Reid and his boy wunderkind Kieren Hebden (aka Four Tet) are back at it, and this time... it's funkay. For Daxaar, the duo traveled to Senegal and Reid reenforced his Ensemble with a gang of African musicians. All six of the tracks here (with the exception of the vocal opener "Welcome(1)") are extended instrumental jams that fuse Reid's masterful drumming -- which shifts seamlessly between jazz and funk -- with African instrumentation (woohoo, kora!) and the unobtrusive and actually quite beautiful electronics of Mr. Tet, who also produces. This is way more Blue Note than Domino, but you won't hear me complaining. Drop the needle anywhere, you can't go wrong: "Jiggy Jiggy(1)," "Dabronxxar(2)," "Welcome(3)," "Don't Look Back(4)," "Daxaar(5)," "Big G's Family(6)." Recommended.

reviewed by Larri Byrd