Columbia Nights

Alternative R&B act Columbia Nights put a contemporary, somewhat left-of-center spin on late-'70s and early-'80s crossover jazz, incorporated touches of laid-back hip-hop, and combined analog and electronic elements. They called their approach "soultronic." Prior to starting the group, musicians and producers John E. Daise and Hayling Price had played together in a Philadelphia-based band. They lost contact but crossed paths again in Washington, D.C., where they began to collaborate in a home studio setting. After adding Sarai Abdul-Malik, a vocalist enrolled in the jazz program at Howard University (coincidentally, the birthplace of quiet storm, a radio format with detectable traces of influence in CN's output), the group continued to develop material. Their first two releases were digital singles, both of which were covers: "Stormy Weather" (<a href="spotify:artist:6Tyzp9KzpiZ04DABQoedps">Little Dragon</a>) and "Feel" (<a href="spotify:artist:3EB0uKE2lGw6BB1UFJrONl">George Duke</a>). Shortly after that, the trio released Dawn | Dusk (2012), a seven-track EP, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Record+Breakin%27%22">Record Breakin'</a> label. Jason Edwards, who previously played with Daise and Price and contributed percussion to a pair of the EP tracks, subsequently joined as a full-time member. After a remix EP and an assortment of collaborations and stray cuts -- including covers of <a href="spotify:artist:47zz7sob9NUcODy0BTDvKx">Sade</a>'s "Make Some Room" and <a href="spotify:artist:6giP3D3xjy48VZKi3nk3eE">I-Level</a>'s "Heart Aglow" -- the trio released In All Things (2015). The album featured contributions from <a href="spotify:artist:5xdQf8ZY4CFEtt0LKztj32">Abdul-Malik</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0yrzenuzq46YnfnkqaAW4D">Diggs Duke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0U2CaFRICn6yg9RsxGgEZl">Aaron "AB" Abernathy</a>, and Vaughan Octavia, among other vocalists and instrumentalists. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi