In March 2025, keyboardist/composer/producer/bandleader
Joe Armon-Jones
released
All the Quiet, Pt. 1
. Three months later, the second part emerges. This outing includes many of the same musicians and singers from the first album including
Greentea Peng
,
Wu-Lu
Yazmin Lacey
Hak Baker
Nubya Garcia
Oscar Jerome
James Mollison
, and others. It's probably worth remembering that this two-part project marked
Armon-Jones
' first solo recordings in six years -- his other work includes leading
Ezra Collective
, and doing session work as an instrumentalist and producer. While these volumes are of a piece conceptually, they differ in feel, texture, and genres.
Opener "Acknowledgement Is Key," with
Baker
on vocals, commences as a dubwise groover before a moody, funky tom-tom and snare trip-hop backbeat introduce the chord progression and transform it into elegant contemporary jazz with lithe flute, trumpet, and Wurlitzer.
doesn't enter until nearly five minutes in as the instruments blur into one another. His spoken word and singing are poignant reflections on personal and cultural development. While the instrumental "Lavender" crosses laid-back contemporary jazz and electronics, its beats, both synthetic and organic, careen into junglism.
Asheber
's classy spiritual soul vocals carry "Westmoreland" in the terrain pioneered by
Norman Connors
atop a hypnotic bassline, layered, airy synths, and trap kit. "Paladin of Sound & Circumstance" weds laid-back beat science with a jazzy Rhodes piano, skittering syncopated snare, and a subdued yet pulsing bassline. Vocalist
and rapper
are up front with layered reverb on the gorgeous single "Another Place," while an interlaced percussion and keyboard tapestry frame the rap as
Peng
airily interjects between his verses. "War Transmission" is a class in contemporary jazz-funk with buoyant horns, swirling pianos, drop-dead syncopation, and production that combines the styles of
Creed Taylor
and
Jon Hassell
. While "505 Standby" is a short, loose meld of jazz improv and hypnotic ambient electronics before "Journey South" opens onto a vista of instrumental movement with cascading brass and reeds, pulsing, carnivalesque piano complete with seamless arpeggios, and a questing tenor sax solo.
Lacey
is the featured singer on closer "One Way Traffic." Its circular bass line sits atop the snare-hi-hat rhythm and syncopated breaks.
lays in chords, accents, and an instrumental flow that carries
's vocal above it all; the bandleader calls it one of his favorite tracks. If there is a cut that deserves a remix, this is it. The packaging includes a 24-page story book illustrated by
Ralph Berryman
and an original story by
. Like its predecessor,
All the Quiet, Pt. 2
is a self-contained musical universe that feels, despite the abundance of sonic technology, like a blissed-out, elegant, edifying, and organic-sounding whole. ~ Thom Jurek