Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist Terrace Martin and house DJ/producer/artist Channel Tres might seem like unlikely musical collaborators, but their shared love of Los Angeles proves to be the perfect common artistic ground on their groovy, bass-powered new single, “Chucks.”
The track is out today (Feb. 2) ahead of this weekend’s Grammy Awards, where Martin’s 2021 effort Drones is nominated for best progressive R&B album. It also comes prior to the reassembly of Martin’s project Dinner Party, a jazz/hip-hop supergroup also featuring Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, and 9th Wonder. The combo will perform on March 9 at New York’s Terminal 5 and at both weekends of Coachella in April.
Martin describes “Chucks” as “a sonic picture that represents New Los Angeles. The driving pulse of the song represents the tempo of traffic, the bass line is the attitude of a true Angeleno, the space that Channel commands with his vocals closely relates to the motion of water. At the end of the day it’s goin’ to make you move and feel good about being alive.”
“This record is about reminiscing and grieving my past,” Channel Tres says. “I grew up on Long Beach Blvd. and a lot of things took place there. I remember the donut shop, the car wash, the Compton swap meet, and I tried to best articulate that feeling with space and groovy production. Chucks were also my choice of shoe growing up — they cost $25 at the swap meet, and they looked good. I had a bunch of them.”
As for Channel Tres’ own new music, he continues to work on Real Cultural Shit, which was expected to be released last fall on Godmode but has yet to see the light of day. An announcement is expected imminently involving next steps on the project, which was teased by the Teddy Pendergrass-sampling single “Just Can’t Get Enough.”
Channel Tres will tour Europe next month, beginning March 10 in Stockholm. A number of the shows are already sold out, including in Oslo, Brussels, Amsterdam, and London.
