World Cafe Next: The Jack Moves

The Newark, N.J., duo The Jack Moves plays what it calls "sweet soul." Singer, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Zee Desmondes — he's the one with the falsetto — met drummer, producer and former pro skater Teddy Powell at a Lower East Side skate park and honed their shared musical vision in the studio. Here's how Desmondes describes that vision:

"So with sweet soul, you have the rhythm and it's super-black — it's heavy, it's funky, it swings. The bass is always super-funky, and it's got this toughness to it.

"But then on top of that, you have these big, lush, open chords with jazz progressions — an almost Western influence, especially when you're talking about the strings and horn arrangements. You get notes of Tchaikovsky and Jean Sibelius, Beethoven or Ravel.

"It was this great combination of hip-hop — you can hear the roots of hip-hop in the rhythm and the chords, gospel chord changes and grooves — but then this beautiful symphonic element to it."

Hear what that sounds like in this week's World Cafe: Next segment, which you can download on this page.