Krononaut

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Shahzad Ismaily
Arve Henriksen
Matana Roberts
Tim Harries
Leo Abrahams
Martin France (d)

Label:

tak:til/Glitterbeat

December/2020

Media Format:

CD, LP, DL

Catalogue Number:

GBCD/LP 096

RecordDate:

2019

Yet another product of London's fertile left-field jazz scene, Krononaut is a collaboration between Eno guitarist Abrahams and France – arguably one of the very best British drummers of his generation, and certainly one of the most versatile and adventurous.

This self-titled album is the fruit of two (mostly live, mostly non-overdubbed) sessions that the duo recorded last year in London with Harries and Ismaily performing on bass, and guest appearances by Norwegian trumpet magus Henriksen and saxist Roberts.

These musicians all gel extremely well, despite Abrahams' self-confessed ‘lack of jazz experience’. As might be expected, there's a Hassellesque vibe to this music: breathy, weightless atmospherics (particularly from Henriksen's trumpet) blending with Central Asian textures and a willingness to explore music that goes beyond traditional notions of harmony or rhythm. The sense of wooziness Abraham's guitar, France's skittering rhythms and the buzzing, gibbering synths bring to the recording also help distinguish this music from the usual Fourth World knock-offs. Most gratifyingly, Krononaut don't settle for one mood or texture – they're willing to move from dense to spacious, from ethereal to aggressive (France absolutely batters his kit on ‘Power Law’) and from linear to angular. And of course it's always great to hear Arve Henriksen again.

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