Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn: Pigments

New Orleans experimental R&B diva Dawn Richard and songwriter/bassist Spencer Zahn concoct a sensual world of sound and color on pigments (Merge) – An immersive experiment in what used to be called “third stream” music (not quite jazz and not quite classical). His mostly instrumental soundscapes float and shimmer in arpeggiated tones among a seven-piece group that often includes saxophonist Stuart Bogie and clarinetist Doug Wieselman. Richard appears regularly to offer a snapshot of fluctuating emotional states ranging from irritability (“Coral”) and determination (“Vantablack”) to bad vibes (“Cerulean”) before finally slipping smoothly back into a heady vision. of the future R&B (“Umber”).