Selah, pause and think on these things! There’s no problem with “goin’ hard” for the Most High as you “make war” because there’s times when you just have to “pump up the bass” to show folk “who you represent”. At the same time, there’s moments when it’s just good to sit back and reflect upon the goodness of the Lord in a laidback, calm manner. Such is the case when you take a good listen to Brooklyn’s own Jas Knight and the jazz- infused The Psalter.

First off, Jas Knight the artist (whose name fittingly sounds similar to “jazz night”) is a skilled pianist and musical composer/ arranger. His sound is heavily rooted in jazz with a slight touch of soul/ funk and contemporary gospel mixed in. This is personified right from jump on “Stapler”, the opening track of the album. Expert drum work, keyboarding, and guitar riffs provide an intro to what amounts to an extended jazz set submitted to Christ. Jas then introduces us to the first Psalm being spotlighted, number 100. This provides some live trumpeting patterned into a contemporary- styled bassline with excellent harmony accentuated by a reasonable auto-tune background.The third track on the album is an interlude, “Contrapuntal”, that definitely fits the definition of its title. The three speakers bring commentary about the psalms, with several moments of each overlapping the other, in a way that is a bit busy and tough to listen to. This is followed up by a description of the Psalms by Emmaus Darjeeling on the song of the same name as this theologian. It also features a free flowing piano composition that brings to mind the “Heart First Remix”, not surprisingly featuring some adlibs from shai himself. The 1980’s feel to the “Psalm 91 Outro” was a nice change of pace and provides a little nostalgia in the midst of the timeless jazz sounds. There’s more of the live, soothing atmosphere vibe continuing down the playlist as Jas orchestrates a move through the Psalms in a calculated manner.

There’s not much that can go wrong with reiterating the truth of the Lord, especially with the crisp clear instrumentation that Jas provides. He combines the approach of simply reiterating the psalm of the moment with taking bits and pieces of the psalm and making it fit the vibe of the music. Add in somespittage provided by R- Swift (“Psalm 136b), Da’ Truth (“Psalm 91”), and the previously mentioned Mr. linne (“Psalm 37”) and there is a nice poetry club feel to this project. Jas also ensures that the listener realizes or is refreshed in the fact that our Messiah is spoken of all through these psalms on “Christ In The Psalms”.

All analysis aside, this is quite simply a project that can be loaded into the ipod or CD player of any and every fan of music. Whether it’s the rap enthusiast or the urban/ R& P aficionado, The Psalter provides a relaxing, worshipful change of pace. The focus of this project isn’t on the lyrical prowess or the musical composition, so much as on the worship- worthy value of the Psalms. Grab your Bible, push play on this 5 star project, and let the beauty of His holiness dwell with you this jazz night.