For those unaware, Jazz-funk bass extraordinaire Richie Goods and in-demand vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu are expanding their collaborative musical relationship with the upcoming release of Connected, Vol. 1, a multi-dimensional, riveting conversation constructed around unity.

While offering imagery of love and peace, frequent collaborators Goods and Lu present a dynamic landmark contextualizing unwarranted violence against African American and Asian communities.

While bridging the gap between their respective backgrounds, the pair cements their synergistic harmonic sensibilities with the release of Connected, due out January 13th, 2023.

With Lu on vibes and marimba throughout and Goods splitting his time between electric and upright bass, Connected also includes the all-star contributions of drummer Allan Mednard and guitarist Quintin Zoto.

Special guests include vocalists Sy Smith, Jamison Ross and Pastor Dr. Adolfus Lacey, drummers Lil John Roberts and David Frazier Jr, percussionist Danny Sadownick, keyboardist BIGYUKI, Shedrick Mitchell on organ and piano, Brett Williams on keys and rhodes and Mike King on rhodes and organ.

1. Water / H20 (feat. Sy Smith) (7:12)
2. Treasure Mountain (8:15)
3. Embrace the Now (feat. BIGYUKI) (5:28)
4. 2021 Interlude (3:47)
5. Rain (6:36)
6. Rain Interlude (2:11)
7. Dull Ice Flower (4:49)
8. Someday We�ll All Be Free (7:25)
9. Someday Interlude (2:50)
10. Someday We�ll All Be Free (Radio Edit) [feat. Jamison Ross] (Bonus Track

This vibrantly alive album, deliciously overflowing with musical perfection, opens on the gleaming Water (which commences at the command of guest vocalist Sy Smith, with �Water� effectively washing away distractions from the outside world, while Lu establishes herself on a mystical opening solo) and the hauntingly ethereal one minute, funky and groove laden the next, Treasure Mountain, and they follow those up with the buoyant hipsway within Embrace the Now (featuring guest keyboardist BIGYUKI), the conversational 2021 Interlude (where the co-leaders overdub a more melancholic and acoustic musical sound, and discuss Asian hate crimes), and then comes the pairing of Rain and Rain Interlude.

The former is the iconic �90s hit from SWV, but here organically drawn back to expose the roots of its harmonic inspiration and now inclusive of a sample from Jaco Pastorius� �Portrait of Tracy�. The latter provides a deeper framework for the inception of the very same recording.

Next we are brought the free-flowing musical majesties found within Dull Ice Flower (which actually takes its inspiration from a 1989 Taiwanese film based on a novel of the same title) and that is itself backed by their rendering of the Donny Hathaway hit Someday We�ll All Be Free (here featuring guest vocalist Jamison Ross), the album rounding out with the spoken word of Pastor Adolphus Lacey, providing his didactic point of view over a graceful, yet emphatic musical bed, Someday Interlude, coming to a close on the CD bonus track, Someday We�ll All Be Free (Radio Edit) [feat. Jamison Ross].

Connected follows several Goods-Lu collusion�s, including Lu�s tenacious debut leader date, The Path from September 2020 followed by the arrangement �We Three Kings� released two months afterward. Last year, the duo presented the dynamic arrangement �Rain� (December 2021), which tracks as the centerpiece of Connected.

After practicing, writing, and eventually hosting livestream concerts together during the pandemic quarantine, Lu and Goods decided to work together more extensively. With the help of a small grant from NewMusicUSA, the two musicians were able to fund a full-length project.

The pair cites their shared love for groovy music as the impetus of their bonafide creative connection. �Our work together has been the most natural and organic thing I have done in my career,� Goods remarks.

The final output is a stunning display of melodic deftness from a thought-provoking and soulful cast of players.

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