Telmo Fernández Phil Wilkinson Caspar St. Charles
Soul Jazz Beat

Modern jazz from Greece ! Leandros Pasias - PianoVangelis Vrachnos - Double BassGeorge Klountzos Chrysidis - DrumsJames Wylie - Alto SaxophoneNicolas Masson - Tenor Saxophone

Currently a trio featuring Helge Sten, Arve Henriksen and Ståle Storløkken, Supersilent ’s album number 13 marks a turning point in the group’s two-decade career. After a dozen recordings under the umbrella of the diverse Rune Grammofon label, Supersilent have now signed to Oslo based Smalltown Supersound, where they join the likes of Lindstrøm, DJ Harvey, Prins Thomas and Andre Bratten as labelmates. After live and studio dalliances with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones in the last few years, they return to the trio format with a real hunger and wigged-out vibe, covering more distance in the space of one record than many bands do in their whole career. Atavistic, abstract and alien, 13 documents a tangle of ribboning, in-the-moment thought processes in oscillation between atonal, asymmetric rhythms and discord and much lusher, spacious flights of fancy, with each player alternately operating at full, noisily expressive wingspan, and also at their most hunched, grubbing. Perhaps most shocking is prominent appearance of crushing, post-techno sludge impulses and almost darkwave-styled themes, whether infiltrating the opener with sloppy syncopation, slung low under 13.3 like Wolf Eyes at their most primal, squashed into the sprawling, psychotomimetic structure of 13.7 or clattering and fizzing under the weight of 13.9. But that’s just one of many deeply skewed aspects that light up across 13, which also shares much in common with the surrealistic, dissonant illuminations of Rashad Becker throughout, whilst the likes of 13.4 head off on crankiest electro-acoustic vectors recalling Edgard Varese’s early electronics or the ferric tang of Gottfried Michael Koenig, whereas 13.8 recalls the gloaming spectres of Gruppo D’Improvvisazione, and the ecstatic squall of 13.9 feels like Fennesz undergoing some radical metamorphosis. Figure it out for yourself, but for us this is one of the wildest, freeform sides of 2016 so far.

The ‘Abroad EP’ catalogues a period of time spent travelling Japan in the spring of 2019. Throughout the course of the month-long trip, Rudy carried around a portable recorder, capturing various sounds that caught his ear. That collection of found sounds would eventually become the foundation for the EP, each track utilizing a handful of different recordings ranging from bird calls in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, to windchimes in the coastal town of Kawazu. The EP took a full year of patient, daily work to complete, during which time Rudy invited a diverse group of collaborators in to help finish the songs. Throughout the recording process, harp, saxophone, and violin parts were added to create a unique blend of organic and electronic sounds.

After her surprise debut "Mam Pe'ela Su'ure", Ghana's Frafra gospel queen Florence Adooni is back with her second single on Philophon. Born as Frafra in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti, she combines the best of both cultures into a unique fusion. The meandering, mostly pentatonic melodies of the Frafra glide over the high-life rhythm of the Ashanti with incredible ease."Yinne" means The Creator and is one of the songs sung at the culmination of the Sunday service. Its driving rhythm usually guarantees a collective ecstasy in the community."Fo Yelle", on the other hand, has more of a meditative effect on the listener. Its rather solemn rhythm leads you into tranquility and opens your soul to receive the divine spark.The songs were produced by Max Weissenfeldt in Kumasi/Ghana.

Nat Birchall follows up on his killer reggae roots album "Sounds Almighty" and returns with a couple of sides of blissful cosmic & spiritual jazz. Recommended!!!!