Azamiah: In Phases

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Liam Shortall (tb)
India Blue (v)
Alex Palmer
Finn Rosenbaum (perc)
Norman Villeroux (b, ocarina)
Mateusz Sobieski (ts)
Josef Akin (ky)
Romy Wymer (hp)

Label:

Rebecca’s Records

August/2023

Media Format:

LP, DL

Catalogue Number:

REBREC2LP

RecordDate:

Rec. 2021

There’s a load of really interesting jazz coming out of Scotland, and more specifically Glasgow, at the moment. If you missed Stuart Nicholson’s primer on the past, present and future of jazz north of the border in the March edition of Jazzwise, you can read his guide online. One of the key players is DJ, producer and now label boss Rebecca Vasmant, with five-piece Glasgow-based group Azamiah’s debut album the second record on her label, Rebecca’s Records. It’s been a long time coming; recorded in summer 2021, it finally sees the light of day two years later.

Led by vocalist India Blue, In Phases takes a woozy path through expansive, roomy jazz and R&B. Everything is shrouded in a haze, but there’s risk-taking underneath that – ‘Half-Man' has hints of the Hiatus Kaiyote’s expansive arrangements and metre-shirking modulations; the attractive lop-sized riff on ‘Celesta’ and the careful integration of harp and ocarina into the textures throughout shows there’s real thought going on here.

In Phases could be a good deal shorter without detracting from the overall picture, but lots of fun ideas are introduced, and it serves as more evidence of Glasgow's current jazz prowess. Meanwhile, Azamiah play perfect mid-afternoon festival music – expect them at one of those slots sometime soon.

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