[Soul People Music]

The Incredible Adventures of Captain P, the title of Fred Peterkin’s debut album under his abbreviated given name, seems to speak volumes about its origins. Arriving two years after Structure, his critically lauded second album as Black Jazz Consortium, it’s a long-player that catalogs the New York-based producer’s disparate influences, both musical and those acquired during his world-spanning tours. In kind, the joy Peterkin gets from exploring his own sonic world comes through on the LP’s 11 tracks as they delve into what exactly defines Fred P. as an artist without necessarily being tied to the dance floor.

Since the breakthrough of Structure, Fred P. has issued numerous future-classics on various platforms, and indeed a return to the long-playing format means a more varied and experimental set of tracks. The first 15 minutes of the album are devoted to incredibly deep house tracks, with “Changing The World Around Us” providing a bit of jack while “In Between Gates” sounds almost like a pensive house lullaby, providing emotive depths in place of most dance music signifiers. After such a strong opening Peterkin moves on to the jazz-flavored “Galactic Star Dust” and the hip-hop beat of “What It Is.” Normally house producers making hip-hop spells disaster, but “What It Is” is sleek and great, fitting in perfectly with its surroundings while recalling hip-hop’s golden age. “Where I Want To Be” provides twitching percussion and occasional yelps, which might sound something like early Autechre or liquid drum ‘n’ bass if not for Fred’s signature pads floating just under the surface.

“Soul Life Connection” is the album’s centerpiece, and deservedly so. It’s a protracted, plodding cut whose spacey elements are exacerbated with some excellent vocal snippets from SolyMar. “Come This Far” with its pillowy pads is a solid soundtrack to eyes-closed drifting, while “2 Make It Happen” is a stripped down experiment in marimba sounds with organ samples and rigid rhythms as its base. “For Real (Interlude)” is just that, though is no throwaway like interludes can sometimes be. Here Fred lets what he does best (beautiful, wistful pads) take center stage, resulting in some very fine atmospheres. The penultimate track of the album brings us back to the kind of house we’re used to with Peterkin, with “Somewhere” emerging as a strong contender for the most DJ-friendly cut here. Everything then comes full circle with a reprise of “Changing the World Around Us,” which removes some of the more jacking elements of the track found at the beginning in lieu of more moody fare.

Occasionally throughout The Incredible Adventures of Captain P small snippets of washed out noise and NASA transmissions can be heard between tracks. Reading this, you might think of the segues on a sci-fi-themed techno concept record, or even their prevalence in ’90s acid jazz and trip-hop. But here the NASA samples allude to the kind of breezy heights and intrepid exploration that the space program is based on. It’s not surprising, then, that space seems to be Captain P’s ultimate destination. As the album suggests, his adventures around Earth have seen him both hone his craft as well as expand his sound. I know that on my first trip above the stratosphere The Incredible Adventures of Captain P will likely have a place in the in-shuttle rotation.