Toronto-born electric bassist Rich Brown has been a growling low-end presence across an impressive array of albums and projects by some of today's more mathematically-minded bandleaders, notably sax heavyweights Steves Coleman and Lehman, Rudresh Mahanthappa and pianist Andy Milne's Dapp Theory. It's not surprising, as Brown has a knack of making tricky cross-rhythms and irregular time signatures groove with an effortlessly relaxed feel while also nailing the core inner workings of complexly structured music. Thus Abeng, his debut album as bandleader (following his beautifully understated solo bass album, Between Heaviness and Here) consolidates his impeccable sideman CV. In fact, Abeng sounds not dissimilar to a fine 2010 album, Catalyst, which he made with saxophonist and fellow Canadian, Jeff King, favouring bright, richly-detailed production and feisty performances from his solid band. Named after an instrument made from a hollowed-out cow's horn, or Abeng, that the Jamaican Maroons (Africans who escaped from slavery in the Americas) created to communicate with or call together their communities, Brown reflects this in music that is complex yet inclusive, drawing the listener in via irresistible bass lines and strong melodic writing. His warm, woody tone is at the heart of each piece, often with spiralling, incisive alto sax lines on top from Deniz, and unlike some of Lehman or Coleman's drier, numerically-inclined moments, the bassist is mindful not to put maths before movement, retaining a strong narrative via stirring emotive themes such as ‘Window Seat’, hypnotic African percussion on ‘Chant of the Exiled (Abeng)’, or the languorous latin lope of ‘Promessa’. Among the assembled talents drummer Larnell Lewis, who's international profile has been raised significantly via his outstanding performances with Snarky Puppy, spikes fiendish rhythms with a sense of onthe-edge invention and energy, turning dry formulae into viscerally ricocheting rhythms, as on ‘The Etymology of Ouch’. Brown states in the liner notes that: “Recurring instances of racism against me personally and all black people have filled me with anger, sadness and confusion. With this Abeng my message is simple. Black lives matter”. Thus Brown has crafted a wholly dignified response to such a malaise, in the form of a defiantly multi-faceted, yet deeply passionate, artistic statement.