YAZZ AHMED Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Yazz Ahmed's latest offering blends the melancholy of her Bahraini heritage with her expansive jazz vision. Tracks like 'The Pearl Diver's Tale' and 'Sandstorm' weave together traditional Arabic instrumentation with modern jazz structures, creating an immersive and dynamic soundscape. Collaborating with vocalists Natacha Atlas and Brigitte Beraha, Ahmed's compositions grow even more poignant, pulling from the sorrowful songs of Bahrain's pearl divers and the rhythms of women's traditional drumming. This 180-gram vinyl 2XLP marks a new chapter in Ahmed's career, combining English and Arabic lyrics to bring an entirely new perspective to her already unique sound.

Review: Finding My Way Home marks the debut of British-Bahraini trumpet player Yazz Ahmed, a project deeply rooted in her cultural and musical journey. The album blends Yazz's Arabic heritage with the classic British jazz sounds that marked her youth. This mix of influences is reflected in original compositions and improvisations that draw on her childhood in Bahrain, as well as the British jazz scene of the 1950s and 60s that her grandfather, Terry Brown, was part of. Terry, a notable jazz trumpeter and producer, inspired Yazz's early passion for music. A highlight of the album is Yazz's collaboration with renowned bassist Janek Gwizdala, a friendship, rekindled years after their teenage brass ensemble days, that led to intimate recordings at the Cowshed in London. These duetsifeaturing pieces like Yazz's Affirmation and the spontaneous Arabic-influenced compositions Embarkation and Al Muharraqiform the emotional core of the album, while it also showcases Ahmed's quintet, performing two original tracks: the tender ballad Conciliation and the Joe Henderson-inspired 'Flip Flop'. Another standout, 'Wah-Wah Sowahwah', features Shabaka Hutchings on bass clarinet, exploring Ahmed's Arabic influences. 'Finding My Way Home' concludes with a self-titled track, merging elements from previous recordings into an evocative journey. This debut not only launched Yazz's career, earning acclaim and praise, but also inspired her to form new ensembles.

Review: Earlier in the year, British-Bahraini jazz musician Yazz Ahmed delivered her second album, a set so good that one critic (rightly) described it as "a modern jazz masterpiece". This surprisingly speedy follow-up is almost as good, and sees the masterful trumpeter and her musical accomplices guide us through a series of inventive original "fusion" compositions that variously fuse elements of big band jazz, Arabic musical culture, spiritual jazz, cinematic soundscapes, Afro-Cuban jazz and Blaxploitation-era jazz-funk. In other words, it's another strong set that confirms that looming superstar status of the effortlessly brilliant Ahmed.