In a union of sideline masters, producer and guitarist Blake Mills has joined forces with legendary bassist Pino Palladino to create a fresh collaborative effort. “Notes With Attachments,” released March 12, is an instrumental album showcasing a selection of melodic fragments developed by Palladino over the past decade. In spite of its disappointingly bland album cover, the record is a flavorsome mélange of the two musicians’ fascinations; Mills and Palladino’s shared appreciation for West African rhythm features as one of the record’s key themes, and the combination of sub-Saharan inflections and jazz vocabulary lends the record a floaty, jaunty ambience. Reflecting on the album’s creative process, Palladino discussed his synergistic partnership with Mills, explaining, “We like to take chances — we keep exploring so that we can try and find something, just a little tiny thing that is inspiring to us.”
Mills and Palladino occupy a rare niche in today’s musical community; though neither can be called household names, many listeners have unknowingly heard their work. Palladino, for example, has lent his talents to artists as diverse as D’Angelo, The Roots, Harry Styles, Erykah Badu, John Mayer and Elton John over the course of his nearly 50-year career. In bass circles, Palladino has earned a reputation as one of the most influential and original bassists that the studio and stage have ever seen. He can often be found standing to the side in live performances, his composed demeanor complementing his impeccable sense of rhythm and unerringly tasteful fills.
Similarly, Mills has become one of the most sought-after producers and instrumentalists of the 2010s, collaborating with Alabama Shakes, Phoebe Bridgers, John Legend, Fiona Apple and others. In addition, he has released four solo albums, honing his skills as a producer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. Fans of Mills’ most recent studio effort, 2020’s “Mutable Set,” will recognize the basis for the simultaneously minimalistic and meticulous production techniques used in “Notes With Attachments,” indicating that Mills’ album-to-album artistic growth shows no signs of slowing. Mills has made great strides in focusing his musical vision since the beginning of the decade; where he was once known primarily as a guitarist’s guitarist, the Mills name is now synonymous with a marriage of adept technical skill and remarkable musicality.
Buzz for “Notes With Attachments” began after the Jan. 27 release of the record’s main single, the understated and hypnotic “Just Wrong,” which sees Mills layering tranquil and hazy accompaniment under Palladino’s syncopated semi-acoustic guitarrón melody. Keen-eared listeners will catch electric sitar, marimba, timbales, violin and triangle lending sparse support to the intertwined lines of the frontmen. Mills and Palladino are joined in melody by saxophonist Sam Gendel, whose trademark harmonized sax sound is reminiscent of his recent work with blues legend and Mills’ guitar hero Ry Cooder. Gendel’s crescendoing sax layers, facilitated through his use of a BOSS Super Shifter, sound at times like an electric slide guitar and at others like a vintage synthesizer.
Often, Gendel’s modernized sax bridges the gap between the jazz undercurrents and African rhythms in “Notes With Attachments.” For example, on the Fela Kuti-esque “Ekuté,” Gendel enters alongside the drums around a third of the way into the song, bringing energy and texture to the preceding looped groove through big-band runs and stabs. Gendel’s contributions to the record are bolstered by saxophonists Marcus Strickland and Jacques Schwarz-Bart, the latter of whom Palladino collaborated with while playing for D’Angelo in 2000. The record’s Senegalese and Gambian influences are most audible in “Djurkel,” which opens with a kora-like trill on a Senegambian ngoni before expanding into a pensive and groovy variation on a single melody. Percussionists Chris Dave and Ben Aylon provide the rhythmic backbone to the track through their use of Senegalese percussion and shakers, making the tune seem like less of a free-form jam and more of a multi-movement oeuvre.
On the album’s more contemplative title track, Palladino’s signature fretless bass tone is evocative of his iconic introduction to Paul Young’s “Wherever I Lay My Hat.” Mills’ production and Gendel’s angelic saxophone harmonies create an ethereal, sentimental sense of movement for the duration of the song’s rather brief 1:52 runtime. Palladino’s ever-changing bass tone highlights his versatility; the upright-like glissandos of the title track are traded for slap phrases toward the end of the funk-infused “Chris Dave,” and on “Soundwalk,” we hear a thumping, tumbao-esque thumb bass undercurrent. Palladino features most prominently on “Man From Molise,” the title of which is a nod to the hometown of Palladino’s father. The track is comical fun masquerading as a hefty groove, with Mills’ sampled “ooh”s and “aah”s and ridiculously dramatic flamenco solo blending perfectly with Palladino’s meaty bassline and Gendel’s noteless sax exhalations.
While some have criticized the album’s lack of consistent melodies and repeated themes, its intricate and meandering lines provide audiences with something new to enjoy upon every listen, whether it’s a previously unheard tuba countermelody or a soft celeste murmuring at the back of the mix. The fleeting, ephemeral nature of the record’s melodic ideas gives the work a joyful je ne sais quoi, as if the twin masters were too excited by the myriad sonic possibilities before them to linger on any one idea for long.
In “Notes With Attachments,” Mills and Palladino aspire to a collaboration in the truest sense of the word; the junction of two artists’ influences and shared passions creates a product that takes on its own musical identity. In this regard, and many others, the album more than succeeds. In a record where the melodies are more conversations than statements, the glee of an excellent partnership shines.
