SARATHY KORWAR レコード& CD

Review: Les Abranis are a pioneering Algerian band known for having mixed up traditional Berber music with Western rock, folk, disco and funk. At the same time they never lost sight of their Kabyle heritage and as such really made a mark on the Maghrebi music scene all across the world from Algeria to France. This new collection Amazigh Freedom Rock 1973-1983 comes five years after Chenar le Blues/Avehri and is a deep dive into the band's discography. It spans everything from their early garage-rock experimentations to lush orchestrations and North African fusion gems from the 1980s.

Review: Indian percussionist and fusionist and Steve Reid foundation alumni Sarathy Korwar takes Ninja Tune on a trip through the Gujarat to his Sidi community homeland. Telling folklore tales and soundtracking the community's daily routines through traditional instrumentation, jazz, electronica and field recordings, the nine track narrative is a unique musical meeting point between east, west and strong twangs of east African instrumentation (such as wily horns on "Lost Parade") From the meditative ripples of "Eyes Closed" to the hazy sunrise of "Bismillah", this really is an exceptional and highly immersive body of work.

Review: If you're looking for some exotic, spiritually minded jazz to kick-start 2021, look no further than this inspired collection as "direct-to-disc" improvisation from drummer Sarathy Korwar and his regular studio partners, the UPAJ Collective. In keeping with the feel of their previous work, the five showcased improvised recordings brilliant fuse familiar spiritual jazz tropes (snaking saxophone solos, loose-limbed drums and quality keys-work) with the traditions and sounds of Indian classical music (think tablas, violins, Hindi musical motifs played on acoustic guitar etc). Throw in some real-time recording trickery, and you've got an unusual but extremely entertaining set that we firmly believe is the first great jazz album of 2021.