– THE QUIET RIOT –

Ishmael Ensemble is the brainchild of Bristolian saxophonist, DJ, producer and bandleader, Peter Cunningham.

Over the last five years or so, he’s been carving out an interesting little niche for himself by mixing jazz with electronics, ambience and club culture to create something which is as unique as it is diverse.

But now he goes one step further.

On The River, he recruits the “high priestess of psychedelic Arabic jazz” (also a relatively select collective, one suspects) Yazz Ahmed to lend all the flavours of a North African souk to proceedings. Her tantalising tones tease the listener like a silent, veiled vixen.

But simply focussing on her trumpet scales – entrancing as they are – would be to miss the wealth of Arabic percussion trickling away in the background here and – faintly in the background – what sounds like Arabic chanting.

It makes for a track that’s as hot and as hazy as Ahmed’s native Bahrain heat while incorporating the pulse of the western dancefloor.

The River comes from the album State of Flow which was released this week.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

FLYING LOTUS: TAKASHI
BRONX SLANG: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
MADISON MCFERRIN: NO TIME TO LOSE
BRAD MEHLDAU: THE GARDEN

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM 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.

– SV –