Item: SulaMadiana
Rating: 8
Author: guardian

Wavelength

Rate and discover music with friends

Get

SulaMadiana by Mino Cinelu & Nils Petter Molvær reviewed by guardian — 8.0/10 | Wavelength | Wavelength

inventive duo connect Norway and the Caribbean

Some of these 14 tracks are a minute or two long, some are evolving collages of booming gong-like sounds, hand-drum flurries, electronic harmonies or twisting, Miles Davis-like horn improv. A minimally lonesome trumpet call might be answered by Cinélu’s pattering tabla rhythms or soft acoustic guitar chords, while a deliciously lazy groove (such as that of the ambling New York Stroll) triggers jazz-fusion recollections of the Amandla-era Miles recordings of the 1980s, to which Cinélu contributed. There are pieces mixing distantly whispery vocals with Afrobeat, or spikier improv jams colliding vocal exclamations and scurrying post-bop trumpet runs, as on the jazzy Take the A♯ Train – while the set’s finale, a reprise of the title track, is a bluesy guitar-accompanied folk song, on which Molvær’s fragile acoustic-trumpet probings are at their most minimally succinct. SulaMadiana is like eavesdropping on an evolving multilingual conversation, but one with an invite open to all.

Powerful young London saxophonist Nubya Garcia releases her fine debut album Source (Concord) – an autobiographical trip around her Caribbean origins, tenor sax inspirations and her generation’s genre fluidity, fusing jazz, dub, hip-hop, Latin music and R&B. The urgent drive of her classy trio (including Joe Armon-Jones on keys) creatively contrasts with her sumptuous tone and patient exposition. With an augmented-horn lineup on the grippingly riffy standout track Before Us: In Demerera & Causa, she highlights both her growing improv imagination, and a sense of the enduring potential of classic jazz ensemble traditions. Subtle, original and overlooked UK saxophonist and crossover composer Alan Wakeman reveals fascinating unreleased early work with The Octet Broadcasts 1969 and 1979 (Gearbox Records), and versatile Scottish pianist Dave Milligan unveils Momento (Big Bash Records), a lyrical mix of folk ballads, Satie-esque waltzes and jazz improv, with a fine Italian rhythm section.

This duo’s sonically colourful, teemingly inventive album splices its title from the west Norwegian island of Sula and a popular synonym for the Caribbean island of Martinique. Nordic ambient trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær has origins on the former and Mino Cinélu, the former Weather Report and Miles Davis percussionist, has family from the latter. If the intertwining of those far-flung roots suggests wide-open spaces, jazz/improv surprises and African rhythmic inspirations, they’re all sewn into the tapestry of this entrancing session. Cinélu says: “We both know each other’s cultures, we find bridges and crossings, and when we walk these paths they lead in the same direction.” Some of these 14 tracks are a minute or two long, some are evolving collages of booming gong-like sounds, hand-drum flurries, electronic harmonies or twisting, Miles Davis-like horn improv. A minimally lonesome trumpet call might be answered by Cinélu’s pattering tabla rhythms or soft acoustic guitar chords, while a deliciously lazy groove (such as that of the ambling New York Stroll) triggers jazz-fusion recollections of the Amandla-era Miles recordings of the 1980s, to which Cinélu contributed. There are pieces mixing distantly whispery vocals with Afrobeat, or spikier improv jams colliding vocal exclamations and scurrying post-bop trumpet runs, as on the jazzy Take the A♯ Train – while the set’s finale, a reprise of the title track, is a bluesy guitar-accompanied folk song, on which Molvær’s fragile acoustic-trumpet probings are at their most minimally succinct. SulaMadiana is like eavesdropping on an evolving multilingual conversation, but one with an invite open to all. Powerful young London saxophonist Nubya Garcia releases her fine debut album Source (Concord) – an autobiographical trip around her Caribbean origins, tenor sax inspirations and her generation’s genre fluidity, fusing jazz, dub, hip-hop, Latin music and R&B. The urgent drive of her classy trio (including Joe Armon-Jones on keys) creatively contrasts with her sumptuous tone and patient exposition. With an augmented-horn lineup on the grippingly riffy standout track Before Us: In Demerera & Causa, she highlights both her growing improv imagination, and a sense of the enduring potential of classic jazz ensemble traditions. Subtle, original and overlooked UK saxophonist and crossover composer Alan Wakeman reveals fascinating unreleased early work with The Octet Broadcasts 1969 and 1979 (Gearbox Records), and versatile Scottish pianist Dave Milligan unveils Momento (Big Bash Records), a lyrical mix of folk ballads, Satie-esque waltzes and jazz improv, with a fine Italian rhythm section.