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Ambrose Akinmusire – ‘honey from a winter stone’

honey from a winter stone is Ambrose Akinmusire’s second album on the Nonesuch label. The first, ‘Owl Song’, was an acclaimed album described as having ‘great beauty, haunting melody, heightened sensitivity’ (Philip Watson, The Irish Times).  The music is almost minimalist – it is inspired by the work of composer Julius Eastman – and while it continues with the reflective mood of the Owl Song album, it also broadens the musical territory considerably, taking in elements of classical chamber music and hip hop.  Akinmusire weaves together these disparate elements to create a beautiful, soulful and coherent set of pieces.

The opening track, Muffled Screams, moves through a series of episodes featuring the various members of the ensemble.  It begins (episode 1) with a stunning trumpet statement over a rippling piano sound and splashes on the cymbals and rolls on the drums.  The music then moves into a passage for strings and piano (episode 2)  which sets up the rapper who improvises over an ambient backing from the synths and short notes from the piano and drums.  The strings return for a brief period before the synths take over. Episode 3 features the trumpet interacting with the rapper, with both matching each other’s energy .  Finally (episode 4) the trumpet takes over and returns to the atmosphere of the first episode.  The transitions between these episodes are smooth and cohesive

The remaining four tracks follow a similar pattern with each having a series of episodes.  Owled is a particularly interesting track that features aspects of minimalism, ambient electronic music, classical string quartet writing and hip hop.  -s-/Kinfolks is the longest track at 29 minutes; it has a nostalgic feel, the focus moving between the trumpet and the rest of the band.  

The line up is Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, the Mivos String Quartet, Sam Harris on piano, Chiquitamagic on synths, Justin Brown on drums, and Kokayi on vocals.  Akinmusire in the liner notes points out that Kokayi is an improvising vocalist who reacts to the surrounding music, rather than just a rapper, and his vocals are indeed relatively easy to follow, 

The music on this album is an excellent example of how creative jazz has the ability successfully to integrate various strands of contemporary music.

honey from a winter stone is released today 31 January 2025

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