Dinner Party—the hip-hop/jazz supergroup featuring Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, and 9th Wonder—is rooted in bringing people together, the deceptively generic name providing the apt metaphor of friends sharing a meal. On Whatchu Bringing? they take an even more literal approach. “Now you know better than to show up empty-handed,” laments guest vocalist J. Ivy, responding to a knock at the door on opening track “Stop Being Late.” What follows is an admonishment both sharp and tongue-in-cheek, a lighthearted Ninety-five Theses of potluck etiquette. It’s a clever way to open their third LP: a warm invitation to join a party already in progress.
The Dinner Party project is built on deep, long-standing friendships between artists who genuinely seem to enjoy each other’s company, frequently collaborating on each other’s records. Martin and Glasper first met at a jazz camp in 1996; Martin and Washington have been playing together since high school; and all three worked on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, a record that helped prove the commercial viability of such jazz-rap experimentation. In the years since, they’ve collectively released dozens of studio records and collaborations that further stray from jazz convention.
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These sessions feel grounded in gratitude and generosity, with a sense of restraint that defies the expectation of a supergroup of jazz virtuosos. It’s most evident in the contributions of Phoelix, the de facto fifth Dinner Party member, who’s been involved since the group’s inception. The Chicago singer and producer co-wrote all nine songs on Whatchu Bringing?—even the two without words. On a record with such consistently magnetic energy, another vocalist might have been unable to resist the urge to show off a little. But Phoelix understands the assignment, finding phrases that fold comfortably into the groove (“And I can’t lie, I was on it,” “I’m stargazing, aching, breaking”) and settling in for the ride.
Production-wise, Martin sits at the center of these star-studded sessions, with arrangements that feel gentle but confident, relaxed yet subtly virtuosic. Isaiah Sharkey is often the most noticeable contributor, his guitar embellishing the mix with flair on four tracks. With 9th Wonder as the rhythm section, Martin builds the songs around beats rather than melody, anchoring their jazz in a hip-hop sensibility and giving the album distinctly soulful vibe.
On Dinner Party’s 2020 self-titled debut EP, they dabbled in pop song structures and carved out more room for the members’ individual voices. Whatchu Bringing? feels less energetic, but smoother—more relaxed and subsequently more confident. Glasper has admitted that the brevity of Dinner Party records is an attempt to meet their potential audience’s truncated attention spans. To that end Whatchu Bringing? feels akin to musical tapas, with small bites stretched out into what are effectively long interludes, each bite satisfying if not entirely filling.
But it’s a mistake to think of Dinner Party as the sum of parts. Each of these artists is their own cuisine—Martin alone has released four wildly different studio LPs this year—with bodies of work difficult to sum up with any concision. Their discographies reveal artists bored with codified jazz convention, because they understand that its true spirit is one of exploration. And Dinner Party isn’t a showcase for their considerable individual talents so much as a very particular experiment. Glasper and Martin don’t even really let loose until the record is almost over; the exchange of blows between the Korg Kronos and saxophone at the front of the mix on closer “Peace of Mind” serves as a brief reminder of what they’ve been holding back. A celebration of collaboration both beautiful and fleeting, Whatchu Bringing? may lack depth but not complexity.
