In 2020, the
Blue Note Re:Imagined
compilation showcased the U.K.'s current generation of London jazzers dialoging with and interpreting selections from the label's catalog. A companion volume appeared in 2022.
Transmissions from Total Refreshment Centre
offers another aural view of London's diverse scene, whose musicians here are all linked by their involvement with TRC. Founded by
Lexus Blondin
, the Centre umbrellas a label, recording studio, and venue. They're regularly populated with local and global players seeking new sounds and connections.
Set opener "Visions" features fluid rapper
Kieron Boothe
in collaboration with
Soccer96
(a quartet featuring
Betamax
and
Danalogue
from
the Comet Is Coming
, bass master
Tom Herbert
, and trumpeter
Poppy Daniels
). It weds syncopated jazz drumming to boom-bap beats under the vocals. Keyboards and electronics frame the rap as jazz formalism contrasts seamlessly with
Boothe
's modernism.
Byron Wallen
is a seminal and long-standing figure on the U.K. jazz scene. His "Closed Circle" combines crossover classical strings and North African and East Indian modalism in a post-bop delivery.
Danny Keane
's cello and
Oli Langford
's violin and viola set the elastic vamp. Drummer
Tom Skinner
's (co-founder of
Sons of Kemet
) tom-toms set up a roiling rhythmic attack as
Wallen
's horn and
Tony Kofi
's baritone sax take solos, then join with strings in post-bop interplay. Drummer/producer
Jake Long
leads a sextet on the darkly tinged "Crescent (City Swamp Dub)." A rumbling, moaning, baritone sax solo by
Tamar Osborn
(one of the most technically accomplished and creatively imaginative players on London's scene) pairs beautifully with
Oli Haylett
's droning electric guitar and the bluesy psychedelia in
Artie Zait
's six-string axe break as the rhythm section adds exponentially to the intensity of this murky, dubwise dread. Trumpeter/bandleader
Jonathan Enser
(
Nubiyan Twist
) and his
Matters Unknown
octet back the innovative, smoky contralto
Miryam Solomon
on the jazz ballad "Eloquence," with gorgeous piano from
Lyle Barton
. Melbourne's futurist
Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange
recorded "Isa," a BPM-intensive meld of jazzy house, electronically saturated funk, and neo-soul with guest vocalist
Noah Slee
. The horn charts, layered polyrhythms, and fretless bass channel jazz-funk and Brazilian fusion.
Neue Grafik
lays down meaty low-end keyboard bass to introduce "Black" with rapper-poet
Brother Portrait
Hadiru Mahdi
). The latter's pinched yet elastic flow offers hard truth; the only other musician on the cut, saxophonist
XVNGO
(pronounced "Shango"), supports him with a fine solo. Interestingly, the set ends with a cover of
Charles Tolliver
's spiritual jazz classic "Plight" by Chicago sextet
Resavoir
. Led by composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer
Will Miller
, they capture
Tolliver
's inherent lyricism with two drummers, samples, trumpet, tenor saxophone, and
Akenya Seymour
's nearly transcendent piano and wordless vocals. Its driving movement is wide open as the ensemble engage one another in free-flowing, intimate communication.
goes beyond the
series, setting high standards of its own with a bracing set of transnational sounds. ~ Thom Jurek