The Project

The Project enjoys bringing it back to the blunt-tokin’ old school days of “Bitches Ain’t Shit” gangsta rap circa nine-deuce, but with a twist, fusing together seemingly disparate elements of modern creative jazz, avant-classical, and metal with a funkdafied energy that rolls right alongside West Coast party hip-hop. The rollicking five-piece ASU jazz combo, under the direction of music prof and chop-heavy saxophonist, Bryon Ruth, ignites blazes and burns up bandstands with G-funk anthems from Dr. Dre’s The Chronic embedded into swinging John Coltrane arrangements, strutting free-bop ’70s Dewey Redman baked into the band’s “musical loaf,” and speed-metal infused with covers from the new jazz/rock outfit, Kneebody. “A lot of the older players around town seem to treat jazz music as if it were ‘under glass,’ making jazz into a kind of classical music,” says keyboardist Shea Marshall. “If I want to hear that, I’ll go listen to a CD or the radio.” Light it up, boys.