Over the past twenty years, when musicians andproducers in Southern California have needed freshR&B, funk, or hip hop beats, they’ve called ondrummer Jake Najor. A former band member ofBreakestra, Incredible Moses Leroy, and TheStyletones, Najor has performed or recorded withscores of noteworthy artists, including TV on theRadio, Raphael Saadiq, Kelis, Joss Stone, Big DaddyKane, De La Soul, Karl Denson, Rodriguez, andEmpire of the Sun.While most of Najor’s career has been spentcontributing percussion in service to the visions of hiscollaborators, with his debut record, In the Cut, Najorhas been the one enlisting players from his musicalcohort as well as some cherry-picked, heavy hitterson the LA funk/soul scene to flesh out ten tracks oforiginal grooves, ranging from soulful cinematicinstrumentals to hard hitting funk jams.The album’s lead single, High Costa Living, lands inthe latter camp. It features an accomplished roster ofwest coast funk players, including a potent brasssection led by trumpeter/arranger Todd Simon(Antibalas, Ziggy Marley, Quantic), and includingJames King (Fitz and Tantrums), Elizabeth Lea(Tedeschi Trucks Band), and Sam Robles (JungleFire), behind the gritty vocals of MixMaster Wolf(Breakestra). High Costa Living sets the tone for arecord loaded with dynamic performances to matchthe syncopated rhythms laid down by So Cal’s go-tobeatmaker. Jake Najor and the Moment of Truth “InThe Cut” brought to you by The Redwoods recordlabel, drops March 29, 2019.