Harriet Tubman (Brandon Ross, guitar; Melvin Gibbs, bass; JT Lewis, drums) has been one of the better improvisational groups dwelling on the experimental side of jazz since their 1998 debut I Am A Man. Fearlessly mining the doom side of jazz, as well as metal, dub, funk and electronic, the music they make is what I previously described as “sometimes cataclysmic but always cathartic.”
Electrical Field of Love will be only Harriet Tubman’s sixth album over a twenty-eight year period, and their first since The Terror End of Beauty eight years ago. Sometime during this long interim period, Harriet Tubman made a new home at PI Recordings, and their PI debut will bow on March 27, 2026. But this isn’t the only change they made.
Ross, Gibbs and Lewis brought in a fourth participant for this album, a concept not new to them as they invited that trumpet giant Wadada Leo Smith for their 2017 project Araminta. This time the fourth voice they added is literally a voice: the audacious soul and hip-hop singer Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Muldrow’s voice is often distorted, matching the distortion of the band and deployed in such a way that she adds a spooky peculiarity to the texture of the music. This often means she’s floating along without guardrails, amplifying the psychedelic textures the trio is so good at depicting. She barely even sings lyrics for the first couple of tracks “Flowers” and “Anatomical Fable of the Elements,” she lets loose purrs, moans and roars that echo forever over doom jazz grooves.
“Isom Dart Was” is about as psychedelic as dub and reggae can get, while underneath the warped “Insisting” is an attractive jazz melody until Ross brings it to the dark side with a cutting, blues-imbued attack. The metal-dub number “When You Rise” is anchored into the pulse so securely by Gibbs’ fuzzed-out bass while Ross’ predatory guitar creates havoc around him and Lewis.
Muldrow is called upon to carry the celestial “Is No Match For You” and with Gibbs acting almost as a duet partner, the singer delivers her line with much conviction. “Assata” — with just the trio — maintains the eerie vibe prevalent on this album but also a winsome strain, too, and they make both features coexist with ease.
“Up From The Gum” is a spacious jam swirling around Gibb’s supple bass line with Ross’ economical lines. The enigmatic stew of sounds of “Don’t Stand A Chance, After The Boom” doesn’t even settle on an identifiable key until Gibbs bass line appears more than halfway in but the ambiguity is part of the allure.
Harriet Tubman being back after an eight-year break is a welcome enough return on its own but their willingness to keep shaking things up by bringing on board Georgia Anne Muldrow signals that they haven’t lost any aversion to standing pat. Electrical Field of Love confronts new challenges in the outer fringes of jazz.
Pre-order/order Electrical Field of Love from Bandcamp.
- Harriet Tubman + Georgia Anne Muldrow ‘Electrical Field of Love’ (2026) - March 26, 2026
- Caroline Davis – ‘Fallows’ (2026) - March 24, 2026
- Finely Tuned Elephant – ‘No Goats’ (2026) - March 23, 2026
