Dinner Party, the collective born from the creative friction of Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and Kamasi Washington, returns with "Watchu Bringing?", their third studio album produced by 9th Wonder. The record drops August 7.
The supergroup's third outing continues the experimental jazz-hip-hop fusion that defined their earlier work. Martin, known for his saxophone virtuosity and work as a sonic architect across multiple genres, pairs with pianist Glasper, whose genre-bending approach to keys has reshaped contemporary jazz, and saxophonist Washington, whose orchestral vision expanded jazz into cinematic territories with albums like "The Epic." Producer 9th Wonder, the North Carolina-based beatsmith behind Little Brother and countless production credits, orchestrates the sonic palette.
The collaboration traces back to spontaneous studio sessions that yielded their previous albums, each capturing real-time improvisation and conversation between three of modern jazz's most restless voices. Rather than overthinking arrangements, Dinner Party embraced intuitive musicmaking. That ethos earned them recognition in an era when boundary-crossing between genres feels less revolutionary and more necessary.
"Watchu Bringing?" arrives as Washington continues balancing his orchestral work with ensemble projects, Glasper maintains his position as jazz piano's most visible contemporary voice, and Martin expands his reach beyond his solo work and collaborations with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Anderson .Paak. The album represents another chapter in an ongoing conversation between three musicians unwilling to stay confined by genre expectations.
The release fits a larger moment in contemporary jazz, where artists no longer wait for institutional validation before exploring hip-hop production, R&B sensibilities, and electronic textures. Dinner Party operates at that intersection without apology. For listeners tracking the evolution of post-millennial jazz, "Watchu Bringing?" marks another waypoint in the genre's ongoing conversation with itself.