BALTIMORE MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST WARREN WOLF ANNOUNCES SMOOVE VIBES, A GROOVE-DRIVEN JAZZ ALBUM RECORDED PRIMARILY IN HIS HOME BASEMENT
FEATURING BRENT BIRCKHEAD, ELAN TROUTMAN, TERENCE CUNNINGHAM, BRANDON LANE, AND IMANI-GRACE COOPER
OUT APRIL 24
SMOOVE VIBES is the new album by Baltimore-born vibraphonist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf, whose work over the past two decades has placed the vibraphone at the center of a wide-ranging career as a bandleader, composer, sideman, and educator. Recorded primarily in Wolf’s home basement using Logic Pro X, the album features Wolf performing vibraphone, marimba, drums, piano, Fender Rhodes, B3 organ, vocals, and all sampled elements on the majority of the record, before bringing in longtime collaborators to complete the ensemble. The album arrives April 24.
In addition to Wolf, SMOOVE VIBES features Brandon Lane on electric bass, Brent Birckhead on alto saxophone, flute, and vocals, Terence Cunningham on organ, Elan Troutman on soprano saxophone, and Imani-Grace Cooper on vocals. All five musicians perform regularly with Wolf and appear here as a working unit shaped by repeated bandstand experience rather than a one-off studio project.
“I decided to create this record because I want to reach out to people across the world,” Wolf says. “I want them to hear jazz but with a twist — without any elements of surprise, without having to think too hard when listening. The album is meant for people to sit back and have fun.”
Wolf grew up in Baltimore City surrounded by music. Jazz, pop, soul, classical music, and blues played regularly in his father’s basement, alongside the R&B, rap, and early Def Jam records played by his older sisters. As a teenager and young musician, Wolf spent years watching his father’s band work throughout the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area during the 1980s and ’90s. Those bands emphasized groove, melody, and presentation, playing to hold crowds and fill main stages.
Wolf began formal music study at age three and trained on vibraphone, marimba, piano, and drums. He studied at the Peabody Institute’s preparatory program for eight years, graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts, and continued his education at Berklee College of Music. After returning to Baltimore, he established himself as a bandleader, releasing multiple albums under his own name and building a catalogue that consistently foregrounds vibraphone-led writing and performance. That body of work includes a run of releases on Mack Avenue Records, where he expanded his audience while continuing to balance groove-oriented projects with straight-ahead jazz contexts.
Alongside his work as a leader, Wolf has maintained an active presence as a sideman and ensemble member. He has performed extensively with Christian McBride’s Inside Straight and spent more than a decade as a member of the SFJAZZ Collective, touring internationally and contributing to the group’s repertory-driven model. He currently teaches at the Peabody Institute and San Francisco Conservatory of Music/RJAM while maintaining a full performing schedule.
That accumulated experience feeds directly into SMOOVE VIBES. Wolf tracked full performances at home, built arrangements instrument by instrument, and shaped the material before entering the studio. He first worked this way on his 2020 album Christmas Vibes and expanded the method here, using his home setup to define feel and structure before recording additional parts with his bandmates.
The album opens with “Fábrica,” a composition by Brazilian composer Cesar Camargo Mariano that Wolf first encountered during a short tour with drummer and producer Karriem Riggins in the week following Michael Jackson’s death. That group included bassist Joe Sanders, DJs Pete Rock and Dummy, and the late Mulgrew Miller, with performances at Yoshi’s in Oakland, the Triple Door in Seattle, and the Dakota in Minneapolis. On SMOOVE VIBES, Wolf performs every part on “Fábrica” except bass, with Brandon Lane providing the rhythmic foundation alongside Wolf’s drumming.
One of the album’s central originals, “Will the Real Kenny Gee Please Stand Up?,” takes its title from Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady” and features Elan Troutman on soprano saxophone. Troutman studied alongside Wolf at Berklee College of Music and now teaches ensembles there. Troutman has featured Wolf on earlier projects and values his ability to support groove-centered material with clarity and focus.
Alongside original compositions, SMOOVE VIBES draws from a repertoire shaped by groove and familiarity, including material by Ramsey Lewis, Dave Brubeck, Randy Brecker, Greg Howe, and Lennon/McCartney. Wolf also points to long-standing listening influences such as D’Angelo, Kenny Garrett, the Brecker Brothers, the Isley Brothers, John Scofield, and Miles Davis, citing Davis in particular for his insistence that musicians continue to grow and expand their music.
“I appreciate all of the musicians on the record because they listened to my vision,” Wolf says. “What I needed from them was to make the album SMOOVE VIBES— fun and enjoyable.”
Track Listing
- Fábrica (Cesar Camargo Mariano)
- Take Five (Paul Desmond)
- Sun Goddess (Ramsey Lewis)
- Contigo (Greg Howe)
- First Kisses (Warren Wolf)
- Will the Real Kenny Gee Please Stand Up? (Warren Wolf)
- Some Skunk Funk (Randy Brecker)
- Yesterday (Lennon/McCartney)