Yazz Ahmed: La Saboteuse, Remixed EP
Naim Records
It's no secret that the British jazz scene has lately been invigorated by figures such as Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, and Moses Boyd. With the 2017 release of her much-honoured La Saboteuse, British-Bahrani composer and trumpeter Yazz Ahmed showed that her name warrants inclusion in that short-list. As anticipation builds for the full-length follow-up, a remix EP has been fashioned that couples compelling reworks by DJ Khalab, Hector Plimmer, and Blacksea Não Maya with a new production by Ahmed herself. While each of the three makeovers reflects the personality of the remixer involved, the versions share certain things: being reworks by DJs, all are naturally heavily weighted in the rhythm department; secondly, all retain enough of the leader's trumpet playing to ensure the material doesn't lose its identity as an Ahmed creation in the process.
Plimmer's infectiously swinging rerub of “The Lost Pearl” begins in funk mode with a low-riding groove powered by slinky electric bass, locomotive hi-hats, and vibes accents, after which Ahmed's horn enters, its confident declamations almost mariachi-like in style. An elegant trumpet solo sees the tune subsequently dive into mystery-laden waters, the material at this juncture oozing a subtle Morrocan aroma. Self-proclaimed ‘Afro-Futurist Beatmaker' DJ Khalab gives “Jamil Jamal” a decidedly electronica-smothered twist in opening the track with frenetic flourishes of snares, kick drums, and cymbals; interestingly, it's Ahmed's trumpet that brings stability to the ever-fulminating backdrop. Rapid bass clarinet patterns by Hutchings push the arrangement in a new, rather klezmer-like direction, after which flurries of synthesizers, bass clarinet, and trumpet amplify the tune's wild and primal sides. Arguably the clubbiest overhaul is the rejig of “Al Emadi” by Lisbon outfit Blacksea Não Maya (brothers DJ Noronha and DJ Kolt and long-time friend DJ Perigoso), which reimagines Ahmed's tribute to the ancient Arabic tribe of her forefathers as an earthy, polyrhythmic dynamo.
Working with Noel Langley, the producer of La Saboteuse, Ahmed brought a number of sampling strategies to “Spindrifting,” an MO the duo earlier used to create the album's “The Space Between The Fish & The Moon.” Using Lewis Wright's bowed vibraphone, Corinna Silvester's riqq, Samuel Hällkvist's pulsing guitar, and Jason Singh's soundscape material as threads, she weaves the elements into a multi-hued tapestry of dark moods and pungent aromas whose horn-spiked drift begs comparison to the Fourth World productions of Jon Hassell. None of the EP's four tracks sounds like anything emblematic of jazz as conventionally understood, and Ahmed, one guesses, wouldn't want it any other way.September 2018