KNOWER, an enigmatic American duo with a sound somewhere between funk, pop, and electronica, is long on action and a bit short in the written bio department. Instead, its online presence features short posts of a few sentences, plenty of videos, and download links. Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter Louis Cole and vocalist and songwriter Genevieve Artadi met while studying jazz in Los Angeles. When they’re not collaborating, they often feature each other on solo projects. The duo has collaborated with Youtube titans Pomplamoose, performed with jazz/rock drummer Nate Wood and jazz/funk standard bearers Snarky Puppy, and opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Knower was presented by legendary producer Quincy Jones as part of a LA-based concert series, whose program attempted to pin down the band’s sound as “an indescribable mix of virtuosic musicianship and pop sensibilities.”
“Gotta Be Another Way,” originally released by Knower in 2011, was arranged for big band for this 2019 performance with the WDR Big Band, whose story AllMusic summarizes: “A top European jazz group, Germany’s WDR Big Band is a sophisticated ensemble, featuring an evolving line-up of some of the country’s best musicians. A function of the German public broadcasting institution Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln based in Cologne, the WDR Big Band are musical ambassadors charged with promoting jazz and culture at home and around the world … featuring such guest artists as Ron Carter, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, and others.”
The tune’s original version blossoms out into a lushly orchestrated big band collaboration. But despite the added textures from the expanded orchestration, the frenetic groove remains at the center of both renditions. Starting in B minor underneath Artadi’s opening rap, there’s a change of key mid-phrase between 0:55 and 0:57 as Artadi begins the sung melody. After that, it’s more or less a question of returning to the B minor section or just holding onto your hat for the rest.
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