Geoff Mann - Underground [Turquoise]

Underground is Geoff Mann who reconstructs from the inside his father's most famous record, six tracks pressed on turquoise vinyl.

Herbie Mann's Memphis Underground (1969) is one of the seminal fusion records: Jazz soloists like Roy Ayers and Larry Coryell were brought into the rhythm section of Memphis' American Sound Studio under the production of Tom Dowd, a combination so improbable that it became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. Geoff grew up as his son, and this isn't a covers album in the strict sense, it's a reinterpretation by someone who has spent his entire life at the heart of the DNA of this work, playing vibraphone, percussion, drums and guitar himself alongside Marcos Garcia, Victor Axelrod and Latin Grammy winner Domenica Fossati on flute.

Memphis Underground retains the same deep groove as the original while being undeniably reimagined, the flute lines intertwining in a rhythm section designed for 2025 rather than 1969. Chain of Fools is fully tilted into the instrumental realm, all tension and release, and Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty, from a completely different Herbie Mann record, extends the homage beyond the confines of a single album. Battle Hymn of the Republic closes it all in the strangest and most daring way.

A son who takes his father's most celebrated alchemy and proves that it still works, this time filtered through his own hands.