– THE PEACEFUL PROTEST –

Funny, the effect a nice bit of open water can have on the soul.

I live by the ocean and, let me tell you, five minutes with my Atlantic mistress is enough to make even a gobshite like me cool my jets and find some zen.

So it’s no surprise that a couple of days spent on the shore of an early-Winter Lake Michigan in 2018 should have provoked percussionist Carlos Niño (yes, that Carlos Niño of Deantoni Parks, Madlib and Kamasi Washington-collaborating fame) and violinist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (yes, that Miguel Atwood-Ferguson of Dr. Dre, Anderson .Paak, Thundercat and Flying Lotus-collaborating fame) to have reached near-transcendental levels of chill.

The fateful event occurred when the two Angelenos had been flown to Chicago to participate in the album release performance of Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings.

The morning after the show, while staying near the city’s South Shore Cultural Center, they were invited them to perform a special guest duo set to open a performance of Jeremy Cunningham’s The Weather Up There.

This album – Chicago Waves – was the result.

Completely improvised, it sees the two visionaries sparking off each other with Niño’s playing, in particular, evoking the shimmering of the water while Atwood-Ferguson’s violins bring to mind the reflections of glass on the surface.

The album, as a whole, builds towards Part VI – Into Eternity but, as you’d expect, it really needs to be taken as a whole.

If you like this try my review of Elegy by Jeremy Cunningham.

Chicago Waves is out now on International Anthem.

HEAR MORE HERE

GREG FOAT: NIKINAKINU
MULATU ASTATKE + BLACK JESUS EXPERIENCE: TO KNOW WITHOUT KNOWING
LOELASH: CHAOS
LIANNE LA HAVAS: WEIRD FISHES

CEASE-FIRE

You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the Future Jazz Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

Until next time, love and noise.

– SV –