Customer Reviews

Conversations With the Unseen

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Alto saxophonist Soweto Kinch is definitely a man to look out for in the 21st century. I bought 2006's "A Life In The Day of B19: Tales of the Tower Block", his second and most recent album first. It's not available here for some strange reason, not even on import; I had to go to Amazon's UK site for it but I knew after just one listen that I would eventually come back and seek out this one too.

I was very sceptical about Kinch's blend of rap and jazz in the beginning but I've warmed to it now. Of course rap and jazz have been happy bedfellows for a while but having them both performed by the same artiste and on the same record, is definitely new to me. Kinch could very well set off a trend but I doubt there are many out there who will be able to carry it off with the same competent equanimity. This is a niche he will be occupying on his own for some time to come, I think.

I also saw him perform live here in Leeds recently. He's a man of presence, of great personality and charm. His band was one of the tightest I've seen in some time and they are all on this CD: Femi Temowo on guitar, Michael Olatuja on double bass, Abram Wilson on trumpet (and vocals) and the absolutely incredible Troy Miller on drums.

As far as the rapper side of Kinch is concerned, I find his lyrics intelligent and deep, while maintaining a certain humour. He doesn't seem to be rapping for the sake of being a rapper; he raps because he has something to say. You'll find none of the usual commercial bandwagon rubbish on here. He's also anti-capitalism, anti-profanity and anti-bling. My kind of hip-hop artiste. And this is 'real' hip-hop with a British accent, not that 250 words per minute 'Grime' thing that's currently very popular among teenagers and young adults here in the UK.

As for the jazz, well, these young men play 'real' jazz too. Not jazz fusion or smooth jazz. Real jazz. Kinch plays the saxophone with great feeling - heart, soul and warmth on the ballads and great gusto and precision on the fast grooves. He also has an interesting and unique approach to composition. There's not the usual theme, theme, couple of solos, theme and then fade or end here, and this makes his songs particularly intriguing and captivating to listen to. There are times when the interplay between Kinch and Temowo reminds me of John Scofield's well-established working partnership with Joe Lovano and that's saying something for such new talent. Onwards and upwards, it seems to me there's no limit to where these guys could go.

I also have to profess mad love and respect for Kinch, for being a member of a breed that's so rare in today's world of commercial homogeny: the modern musical artiste who dares to be different, who dares to be himself.

Favourite tracks: "Intro", "Doxology", the dreamy "Conversations With The Unseen", "Spokes and Pedals", "Snakehips" and the intriguing "The Flame-Thrower". Also worth looking out for is the brilliant Eska Mtungwazi on vocals, on "Intro", "Good Nyooz" and "Outro". Trumpeter Abram Wilson's vocals on the excellent and humorous storyteller "Intermission - Split Decision" were a revelation. He's a very good singer indeed.

But once again, I'm reviewing a CD that is brilliant in its entirety. Produced by Jason Yarde, this is fantastic stuff with jazz, hip-hop, social commentary and even a touch of comedy. Highly recommended.

I had an opportunity to see them live in NYC during the Charlie Parker festival. Unfortunately, the saxophone player was unable to play. Yet, I was impressed with their music. I personally like the mixture of Hip-Hop and traditional jazz rhythms. Most people believe that only good Jazz can be found in the US but, there are several good talented artists all over the world. I am looking forward to more good things from them in the future.

Sorry I don't speak english very well but let's try ;)

Okey. Before this album I listened allmost only "ordinary" american and finnish jazz. BeBop, HardBop, Swing, etc. I was quite sceptical for free and other "modern" jazz. When I firs hear this album I thinked this was not for me. Too unusual. But when I listened it once very carefully from begin to end my eyes (ears) opened really and now I want more this kind pf music. I have bought for example Greg Osby, Jason Moran etc.

from beginning to end this album is a joy to listen to. Snakehips is one of my favorite tracks but I like his excursions into the realm of hiphop that The Roots have perfected - a hiphop jazz combo that works. I am glad that this cd is finally at the amazon US site. A definite must have.

Here's a brilliant young altoist, with a hot--albeit unknown--band (Femi Temowo, guitar; Michael Olatuja, double bass; Tony Miller, drums) who for some reason beyond comprehension feels the need to purvey idiotic hip-hop drivel, thankfully, for only three out of the 11 cuts, totaling only about 13 out of more than 70 total minutes. But that raises the question, Why include this inferior material at all? There's plenty of music to fill a respectably long disc without it. Maybe this blather solidifies his bona fides with the brothers in the hood. I don't know. And I don't care. What it really does, is reduce a spectacular disc from five stars to four. This is really, really stupid, as bad as the idiocy with which Mike Ladd lured V. J. Iyer into cooperating on that woeful disc, In What Language. Really, the hip-hop drek contained on this otherwise fine disc is too stupid to dignify with critique. So I won't.

Nevertheless, memo to Soweto Kinch: ditch the hip-hop idiocy and stick to your main thing, which is smart, sophisticated, edgy post-bop, world-beatish jazz. Indeed Kinch shows such maturity, fluidity, and flair as an altoist and composer, one wonders why he ever felt the need to indulge his hip-hop inclinations. With a tone and approach reminiscent of Greg Osby, although with an even greater command of his instrument than Osby displayed at a similar stage in his development, Soweto Kinch seems to have an assured future as an important and original jazzman.

His band is pretty killer as well. I'm especially taken by guitarist Temowo, who demonstrates a thorough familiarity with a sophisticated post-bop jazz vocabulary while at the same time carving out a distinctive voice of his own, ripping off fluid solos or brilliantly comping. The rhythm section of Olatuja and Miller play their butts off, locking in or going out as necessary. This sounds like a band that's played together for years (and probably has).

This spectacular jazz, among the most accomplished I've ever heard from an initial release, even though sadly compromised by the ill-advised inclusion of the hip-hop inanity, deserves the widest possible hearing. My advice: ignore, skip over, or program out the hip-hop stupidity, and you will have a genuine five-star recording.

Soweto Kinch is the future of modern jazz. Deal with it! unless you've had your head buried in your arse over the last 20yrs you would realize that hip-hop has basically redefined every form of music in the entire world. ESPECIALLY JAZZ!. Educate and Know Yourself FOOL!