Magma (sdban)
Black Flower
Released January 28, 2022
Jazziz Critics’ Picks 2022
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lkwyicibCtU1tQxqa1pGqYB8JL8b2ycME
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/28VtIxXxSnHaQFKCnKN0P5?si=1Nut9LKzRhy6Og_TLJOq-Q
About:
Five-piece hybrid jazz outfit Black Flower are
set to release new album ‘Magma’ on the 28th January via the groove-obsessed
Belgian label, Sdban Ultra.
Piloted by Brussels-based saxophonist/flutist/composer Nathan Daems (Echoes of
Zoo, Dijf Sanders), the quintet is a vibrant, hypnotic mix of Ethio jazz,
afrobeat, psychedelia and oriental influences, inspired by Mulatu Astatke, Fela
Kuti and varied western musical traditions.
Black Flower is a band at the peak of their creative powers. Having received
glowing praise for the 2019 album ‘Future Flora’ from Mojo, Songlines, BBC
Radio 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 3’s Music Planet, Worldwide FM and
Jazz FM among others, forthcoming album ‘Magma’ sees Black Flower embrace new
synth and organ sounds from the band’s most recent recruit, Karel Cuelenaere.
His influence can be heard from the outset – his keys adding a swirling,
mischievousness to album opener and title track ‘Magma’. Elsewhere, the
shuffling drum patterns and flighty, flute-propelled ‘O Fogo’ are rich in
texture and flow.
Driving rhythms and Eastern influenced melodies serve as a rich source of
pleasure that, like magma, become real and solid when finding its way to
the surface. It’s the perfect metaphor for this album’s creational process. The
pulsating, trance-inducing ‘Deep Dive Down’ continues the joyous process while
singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees (winner of The Montreux Jazz Talent Award 2021)
adds, her clear-as-spring-water vocals to the celestial ‘Morning in the
Jungle’.
With the much-trusted Frederik Segers on production and London-based visual
virtuoso Raimund Wong (Total Refreshment Centre) on artwork duties, it all adds
up to the psychedelic and exploratory identity of the band and are key elements
that helped ‘Magma’ in its ascension from deep down up to the surface. A
creative process solidified into vinyl, just as magma into rock.
Fellow musicians and spiritual henchmen are Jon Birdsong (dEUS, Beck, Calexico)
on cornet, Simon Segers (Absynthe Minded, De Beren Gieren, MDCIII) at the
drums, Filip Vandebril (Lady Linn, The Valerie Solanas) at the bass and Karel
Cuelenaere (John Ghost) on keys.
Track Listing:
1. Magma 06:33
2. O Fogo 04:46
3. The Light 06:24
4. Half Liquid 03:48
5. Deep Dive Down 07:27
6. Morning In The Jungle 05:11
7. The Forge 06:05
8. Blue Speck 05:00
Personnel:
Filip Vandebril: bass
Jon Birdsong: cornet
Simon Segers: drums
Karel Cuelenaere: keyboards
Meskerem Mees: lead vocals (6)
Pablo Casella: backing vocals (6)
Recorded at Boma Studio, Ghent, by Frederik Segers
Mastered by Thomas De Pauw
Production: Frederik Segers
Executive Producer: Wout Van Putten
Artwork: Raimund Wong
Review:
What a welcome find. This Belgian quintet stirs together a compelling mix of trance-y loops, idiosyncratic percussion and, best of all, cheesy-toned organ (courtesy of guest artist John Ghost), which adds the primal flavor of Ethiopian jazz. An unmistakable African vibe courses through the music. A flute flutters and soars, trumpets and baritone saxophones pop in and out for short melody lines and quick solos, and the grooves run deep and mesmeric. Dare we apply that hackneyed term “psychedelic”? It fits.
Eric Snider (Jazziz)
