''Dinner Party'' is a self titled EP by American jazz supergroup Dinner Party. It was released on July 10, 2020, via Sounds Of Crenshaw and

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. The group, consisting of musicians

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Tii Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American arranger, composer and jazz saxophonist. Archived July 9, 2015. He is a founding member of the jazz collective West Coast Get Down. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raise ...

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 5, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and Arrangement, musical arranger. His music embodies numerous musical genres, primarily centered around jazz. Glasper has won five Grammy Awards from ...

Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...

, and

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

recorded the project at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles at the end of 2019. It features

guest appearances The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based musician Phoelix. On April 14, 2023 a follow-up LP titled ''Enigmatic Society'' was made available to stream on all major platforms. The album debuted at number one on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Contemporary Jazz Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, at number two on the

Top Jazz Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

and at number fifty-five on the

Top Album Sales The Top Album Sales is a music chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's top-selling albums in the United States. The chart has been published since December 13, 2014, although the magazine also retrospectively recognize ...

. It was supported by the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Freeze Tag" alongside the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by Samantha Whitehead,

Brendan Walter Brendan Stuart Walter (born June 16, 1986) is an American film maker, photographer, musician, and music video and commercial director. He was also the lead guitarist of Valencia. Biography Walter was born on June 16, 1986 in Philadelphia, Penns ...

and Jasper Graham.

Critical reception

''Dinner Party'' was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 74 based on four reviews. The aggregator Album of the Year has the critical consensus of the album at a 75 out of 100, based on five reviews. Writing for ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', Kevin Press said "No one's at the head of the table here. Instead we get a group of friends with genuine history and the kind of outsized talent we can only marvel at. Savour this". ''Spectrum Culture'' critic Bob Fish stated, "Everything sounds so good, a blending of genres and forces, combining the worlds of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, they create the kind of brew that is easy on the ears".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Andy Kellman wrote, "The brief set overall evokes some of the same feelings as 9th's ''

Black Radio ''Black Radio'' is an album by Robert Glasper, recorded with his electric quartet, the Robert Glasper Experiment. Released on February 28, 2012, on the Blue Note label, the album won Best R&B Album at the 55th Grammy Awards and also received a n ...

Recovered'' remix of "

Afro Blue "Afro Blue" is a jazz standard composed by Mongo Santamaría. Santamaria version Mongo Santamaria recorded his composition "Afro Blue" in 1959 when playing with the Cal Tjader Sextet. The first recorded performance was on April 20, 1959, at ...

Kendrick Kendrick may refer to: *Kendrick (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Places United States *Kendrick, Florida *Kendrick, Idaho *Kendrick, Oklahoma Schools *Kendrick School, in Reading, Berkshire, England, United King ...

's " These Walls", and much of

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

's ''

Velvet Portraits ''Velvet Portraits'' is a studio album by American musician Terrace Martin. It was released on April 1, 2016 through Sounds Of Crenshaw/Ropeadope Records. Recording sessions took place at Organic Grease Studios, Ameraycan Studios, Village Studios ...

'', all connected and nutritive recordings offering solace and strength. There's no crosstalk, just completed thoughts". Caleb Campbell of '' Under the Radar'' said, "Even when the record leaves listeners wishing for just a bit more, it is hard to be that disappointed by an album filled with lush performances from some of the best musicians in their genre".

Track listing

Sample credits * "Sleepless Nights" contains a sample of "Can't Breathe", as performed by 9th Wonder featuring Smitty. * "Love You Bad" contains a sample of "It's Something", written by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

and

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

, as performed by Donna Washington. *"From My Heart and My Soul" uses the "Oasis" instrumental by 9th Wonder. * "First Responders" contains a sample of "Ghetto Lament", written by Tommy Smith and

Weldon Irvine Weldon Jonathan Irvine Jr. (October 27, 1943 – April 9, 2002), also known as Master Wel, was an American composer, playwright, poet, pianist, organist, and keyboardist. Biography Irvine, an African American, was born in Hampton, Virginia, on ...

, as performed by Sylvia St. James; and "Gang Progress", written and performed by

André Ceccarelli André "Dédé" Ceccarelli (born 5 January 1946) is a French jazz drummer. Biography After learning to play the drums from his father, Ceccarelli started out playing in the salons of the Hotel Royal Nice Promenade des Anglais at the age of fi ...

. * "Freeze Tag" contains a sample of "Just to Be Somebody", written by

Harvey Fuqua Harvey Fuqua ( ; July 27, 1929 – July 6, 2010) was an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive. Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s. He is notable as one of the k ...

and Vernon Bullock, as performed by

New Birth To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

. * "Luv U" contains a sample of "

He Can't Love U "He Can't Love U" is a song performed by American contemporary R&B group Jagged Edge, issued as the second single from their second studio album '' J.E. Heartbreak''. Co-written by group members Brian and Brandon Casey, the song peaked at #15 o ...

", written by Brian Casey, Brandon Casey and

Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter, known for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. His most notable productions are " Be Without You" fo ...

, as performed by Jagged Edge.

Personnel

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is an American record producer, record ...

– producer (tracks: 1–4, 6–7), music programming (all tracks) *

– producer (tracks: all), acoustic piano (1, 6), electric piano (2–3), Fender Rhodes (4, 7) *

– producer (tracks: all), alto saxophone (2–7), mini-moog synth (1, 3, 5–6), additional keyboards (4–5), vocoder (7) *

– producer (tracks: all), tenor saxophone (1–6), additional keyboards (7) * Phoelix – lead vocals (tracks: 1–3, 6), additional vocals (5) * Marlon Williams (American musician), Marlon Williams – guitar (tracks: all) * Amani Washington – artwork * Bryan DiMaio - Engineering, Mixing (tracks: all)

Dinner Party: Dessert

''Dinner Party: Dessert'' is a collaborative remix EP by American hip-hop supergroup Dinner Party (consisting of Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and 9th Wonder). Released on October 9, 2020 via Sounds of Crenshaw/

, the EP serves as an alternate version of the original EP from July, with a wider range of guest artists such as

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) * Buddy Cage (1946–2020), American pedal steel guitarist, member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage *Buddy Holly (1936–1959), artistic ...

, Punch,

Bilal __NOTOC__ Bilal may refer to: People * Bilal (name), or Belal or Bilel, including a list of people with the name * Bilal ibn Rabah, a companion of Muhammad, made calls for prayers * Bilal (American singer) * Bilal (Lebanese singer) Places * Bi ...

Rapsody Marlanna Evans (born January 21, 1983), better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. After signing with music producer 9th Wonder's music label It's a Wonderful World Music Group, she released a series of mixtapes and collab ...

and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

contributing to the EP's original seven tracks. The EP was nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and Patrick Douthit, except where noted; all music is composed by Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and Patrick Douthit.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2020 EPs 9th Wonder albums 2020 collaborative albums Robert Glasper albums Kamasi Washington albums Albums produced by 9th Wonder Albums produced by Terrace Martin