It's taken Jean-Pierre Smadja five years to craft this latest work, released on his new label, Jazz Village. Opener ‘Zakari’ sets the bar high, with Smadj's electronic oud vying and blending with the choppy piano chords of Bojan Z, his notes warping and bending in the space between phrases. ‘Variation sur un Thème’ sees the bass of Didier Bouchet working with Smadj's Jimi-like riffs, Bojan Z's urgent piano melodies and William Sabatier's crying, meandering bandoneon, as Parisian cosmopolitanism collides with Argentinean tango and Portuguese fado. The driving ‘Ya Hmama’, with its acoustic oud, North African percussion and guttural Arabic vocals from Sofiane Saidi feels all the more traditional for following something so experimental. Influences such as flamenco, fado, blues and Arabic classical music mirror themes of exile, nostalgia and melancholy; guest appearances by the kora player Ballake Sissoko and trumpet great Ibrahim Malouf add to the sense of occasion.