New York City composer, producer and guitarist Gideon King has set his sights on a new project that takes jazz rock fusion by the horns. King has cherry-picked some of the finest players in the game to form Gideon King & City Blog, a team of musicians who have worked with the likes of Steely Dan, Daft Punk and Herbie Hancock. There’s no doubting this collective is masterful, but does the goldmine of finesse translate cohesively in their music?

The band’s new single, 'City Blog' is lifted from their upcoming debut album of the same name. Armed with a shimmering piano, drums that never leave the pocket and a bass that resonates down to your very core, King & co. have orchestrated an additively smooth track. But ‘City Blog’ is a deceptive tune: it manages to sexily slink and glide and appear at surface level as a laid-back jam, when in reality, there’s an abundance of virtuosic skill weaved into its musical tapestry; the irony is that it takes a great deal of expertise to create a setting that grooves with such effortlessness that the level of technical prowess at hand almost goes straight over your head. 

Gideon King & City Blog have produced a track that exudes an infectious passion for their craft, something that’s not easily translated through a studio recording. And in a context like jazz where accessibility is often foregone in favour of flair, it’s a breath of fresh air to hear both achieved at once.