Graham Reid | | 1 min read
To Remain To Return
From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which comes as a double album in a gatefold sleeve. No download code unfortunately.
Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . .
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When Arooj Aftab's album Vulture Prince appeared in 2021 it so utterly seduced Elsewhere that we made one of our year's best albums (we were right, it picked up a Grammy among other awards), and the following year when it came out on double vinyl with an extra track (featuring sitar player Anoushka Shankar) we wrote about it again as a Recommended Record.
The entrancing beauty of this emotional music – which was spiritual, calming and contemplative – owed much to Aftab's many influences from Sufism, ambient music and studies in jazz at Berkelee.
Given all that, it's easy to understand why she would find a fellow traveller in jazz pianist Vijay Iyer who has appeared at Elsewhere a number of times and has similar, multiple influences.
Here singer Aftab, Iyer and bassist/Moog player Shahzad Ismaily improvise a series of not-jazz, not-ambient pieces but – like some of Vulture Prince and Iyer's solo work – which are (mostly) mesmerisingly spare and considered, yet emotionally deep as they refer to bonds and separation
Iyer's playing manages to convey the spiritual music of the broad Indian subcontinent, Aftab glides in with seemingly effortless grace and Ismaily's bass – very prominent in places as a strong root – holds everything in place. His Moog adds subtle emotional colour.
This album is available at Spotify here and on CD.
But it is also out on double vinyl (available through Southbound) which makes it perfect companion to Aftab's double Vulture Prince and Iyer's ECM album Mutations.
Might be an expensive shop, but you won't regret it.
Prepare to be transported.
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