Video Premiere: You’re Not The One – Dilly Dally Alley

The cool thing about this video—one of many, to be honest—is the juxtaposition between the images of frivolity and the sophisticated sound that is being made. While the band jokes and jives about dressing as clowns and sporting inflatable instruments, what we hear is an ultra-cool slice of jazz-pop.

And if the J-word gives you pause for thought, then fear not. This is about as accessible, infectious, and fun as the genre gets. It’s hardly jazz at all, in fact, and perhaps better termed merely a near-jazz experience. Because the pop smarts, the soulful grooves, the deft dance vibes, and the R&B chic all add so much more to the song that I wonder why I even brought the J-word up at all.

No, this is pop at its best, though not the sort of pop you would find anywhere near the charts or mainstream radio; more’s the pity. No, this is pop made from the best bits of a hundred years of musical refinement and evolution. It is a sound percolated through early jazz dance bands and post-war soul divas, political funk outfits and purveyors of conscious soul, acid-jazz revivals, and post-modern jukeboxes. And the result is both revelatory and authentic, familiar yet wonderfully fresh and forward-thinking.