Hope everybody had a joyous Christmas, and is looking forward to a jazzier new year! Here are six stunners to keep you entertained.
IDRIS ACKAMOOR & THE PYRAMIDS: Afro Futuristic Dreams (Strut). The long-running Pyramids, regularly formed and reformed since their birth in the early 1970s, return with another speculative, sprawling, expansive epic, this one exploring past, present and future with more than a few nods to science fiction. It is described as a “new journey in African-American consciousness,” engaging as it does in “commentary pertaining to celebrating the life and death of ancestors, institutional racism, police brutality and the traversing of hazy psychedelia.” So, not much going on here, then. But, of course, there is. With some of the tracks featuring up to 12 musicians, this is an album from a great big band in action, dominated by the slow rasp of Idris Ackamoor’s saxophones, the evocative flute of Margaux Simmons, and the massed ranks of strings, percussion and drums.
Bobby Cox’s electric guitar adds some necessary raunch, offset by the vocal chants that inevitably bring Sun Ra’s Arkestra to mind, but to my mind, the main comparison is with George Clinton’s Parliament or Funkadelic, their exuberant mayhem of rhythm and controlled chaos sweeping everything along in its path. It’s impossible not to smile when listening to this set, for it brings the fun back into jazz.
ETHIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE: Impressions (Red Records). Percussionist Kahil El’Zabar from Chicago founded the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble initially as a trio in 1973, the group recording Impressions, their second album, in 1981. As with all their albums, the music they create here defies simple characterisation, the opening first part of Impressions, for example, a descending woodwind theme that echoes Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, contrasts strongly with the sonorous harp of the second part.
In the kaleidoscope of sounds that follow, percussion is a constant element, as are space and silence, the three musicians negotiating around each other with care and respect, erupting violently in places before restoring a calm order. A welcome reissue of a much-loved album.
NOAH STONEMAN: Anyone’s Quiet: Let It Rain To You (Fresh Sound New Talent). Noah Stoneman – a young pianist from North London – certainly moves in high circles, with renowned pianist Kit Downes acting as mentor and producer of this debut album, and the fine saxophonist Alex Hitchcock a regular performance partner. For Stoneman, this record is about discovering moments of solace and quiet amongst the noise, hoping that “people can embrace the ebbs and flows of everyday life that the music speaks to.”
That might be his wish, but from the very off, it is apparent that his music is far too interesting to provide mere solace. Each piece – all composed by Stoneman – requires detailed attention, and for all its surface beauty, this is actually quite complex music, and all the better for it. Stoneman might only be 22, but he plays like a mature musician with a lifetime’s experience behind him. What a phenomenal debut.
HEIKKI RUOKANGAS: Karu (577 Records). Young Finnish musician Heikki Ruokangas is an avant-garde guitarist and composer who weaves traditional Finnish melodies into his experimental jazz compositions. On this, his debut solo album, he creates an astute dialogue between melody and noise, shifting from soothing, sensitive passages to heavier, abrasive attacks on the strings. His fingerpicking is extraordinarily precise and complex, with every note always fully considered, yet he always sounds unhurried and spontaneous. Not understanding any of the Finnish titles, I have no idea what each track is about, but their atmosphere is wonderful. A strong new voice to look out for.
WOLFGANG MUTHSPIEL: Dance of the Elders (ECM). Another guitarist now, but this one from Austria with a very different style. The jazz of Wolfgang Muthspiel is heavily folk-influenced, but also inspired by classical music, his playing understated but all the more impressive for it, as the opening 10-minute Invocation displays in a suitably evocative way. But this is a trio set, and with Scott Colley on bass and the wondrous Brian Blade on drums, the interplay between the three is always perfectly nuanced. Five of the seven pieces are by Muthspiel, with a Brecht–Weil number and, delightfully, Joni Mitchell’s fragile Amelia, from Hejira, completing a fine album. Enjoy at your relaxed leisure.
NILS PETTER MOLVAER: Certainty Of Tides (Modern Recordings). Renowned for his love of experimentation, of merging his Nordic jazz sensibilities with everything from South Asian intonations to techno and reggae, Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær now delivers the seemingly inevitable album of symphonic jazz. He chose six of his best-known pieces to be given a new life by a group of arrangers, composers, and electronic music producers and then performed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. The result is not simply jazz with strings, more the use of a symphony orchestra as a unified, multi-voiced instrument to subtly cushion the intimate trumpet, all beautifully recorded by maestro producer Jan Bang. This is a rich and sumptuous album, and surprisingly listenable, too.
Reviews by Simon Adams
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