The fact that Brown has taken the title of his previous album Transcendence as the name of this group, or rather ongoing project, tells you all you need to know about the significance of said recording. It was one of the key releases of 2013, putting the drummer-composer on the map and making the point that the use of samples – excerpts of haunting folk songs from the Deep South – could be integrated within a real-time playing context without compromising artistic integrity. The socio-cultural setting for the audio is different this time round as the ‘work songs’ refer to the sound of the men, as dear departed Sam Cooke taught us, on the chain gang in addition to ‘coal miners, gandy dancers, stonemasons and cotton pickers’. Yet what links this new offering to its predecessor is the coherence with which Brown’s band weaves its way into and around source material that has a real emotional charge, especially the prison laments. That said, the wild card is the use of traditional Japanese folk songs on a few tracks, which is entirely coherent, as the keening soprano vocals resonate vividly with the sharp upper register work of the excellent Jaleel Shaw’s alto sax as well as the overarching ambiance the composer-producer has crafted. Brown namechecks hip- hop beatmakers J.Dilla, Dre and Premier in the booklet, and at times there is a subtle echo of those pioneers. If there is one criticism it is that the running order could have been altered to simply vary the tempo and mood around the middle of the set, but Work Songs is confirmation of Transcendence as both a concept and band that has substantial potential for growth.