Yazz Ahmed launches new album with immersive ICA show

Trumpeter Yazz Ahmed’s latest album, A Paradise in The Hold, is a song cycle about identity and belonging, where she has sought to find connections with the music of her childhood, seeking inspiration from local Bahraini traditions, weaving together tales of the sea, of Bahrain’s pearl divers, of returning loved ones, and of the celebratory sounds of women’s drumming circles. It’s an album which has been 10 years in the making, the initial concepts dating back to her time on a Jazzlines fellowship in her native Bahrain.

For this album launch at London’s ICA, which featured a state-of-the-art soundscape system, she brought together an impressive line-up of 10 musicians, including, for the first time, singers Brigitte Beraha and Randolph Matthews.

The album was played through in its entirety; ‘She Stands By The Shore’, opening with Josuha Blackmore’s crashing cymbals and rolling drums, the drama heightened by the wailing vocals of Randolph Matthews, before Ahmed’s entrance on trumpet.

‘A Paradise In The Hold’ and ‘Mermaid’s Tears’ continued the nautical theme, with Brigitte Beraha’s adventurous vocalisations and Ralph Wyld’s shimmering vibraphone to the fore, Ahmed now switching to the darker tones of Flugelhorn, further emphasising the melancholia.

Processed samples of local field recordings combining polyrhythmic handclaps and ululations evoking and highlighting tales of maritime Arabia rang out to fill the already voluminous soundscape.

The sometimes Eric Dolphy like tones of George Crowley’s bass clarinet added to the unusual pairing of two bass guitars, Dave Manington on 6-string  bass and Dudley Phillips’s sometimes dualling 5-string along with Naadia Sheriff’s contemplative keys and long-time collaborator, Corrina Silvester’s percussion adding to the majestic depth of sound.

It came full circle on the closing track ‘Waiting For The Dawn’, which was described by Yazz as a recapitulation of the opener ‘She Stands On The Shore’, where we were invited to compare and contrast between the two. A male voice, Randolph Matthews, takes the lead the first track while Birgitte Beraha leads the closing piece. A sonic contrast subtly made.

This was an ambitious and joyous celebration of Yazz’s personal journey. An evening of intense emotional contrasts made possible an incredible group of musicians and her label, Night Time Stories.