We’re back with our Between The Cracks feature, serving up six newly released albums to tickle your eardrums! This week’s selection spotlights three albums released via the always brilliant We Jazz label. The Berlin-based trio El Khat return with their thunderous third album. Mamman Sani and Tropikal Camel create a scintillating fusion of vintage synth warmth and African electronic rhythms. Plus, drummer, improviser, and composer Max Jaffe, captures the restless energy of New York on his latest project. So sit back, tune in and fingers crossed you’ll inspired to click the buy link.
Albums
Pauli Lyytinen – Lehto / Korpi
Pauli Lyytinen’s Lehto / Korpi is a captivating journey into the Finnish wilderness through sound. The Finnish saxophonist makes his solo debut on We Jazz Records. This widescreen environmental jazz ambient album seamlessly blends his exploratory saxophone playing, field recordings, and extended instrumentation. Lyytinen has built a career crafting textural compositions and electro-acoustic soundscapes akin to avant-garde pioneers like Evan Parker and Peter Brötzmann. But on Lehto / Korpi, he finds inspiration closer to home – the forests and groves of his native Finland. The album’s two sections, “Lehto” (grove) and “Korpi” (deep forest), come alive with the distinct calls of cranes, swans, and other fauna layered amidst Lyytinen’s evocative tenor, soprano, and alto saxophone work. Standouts like the atmospheric “Lehto II” and the immersive “Korpi IV” transport the listener into Lyytinen’s naturalistic sonic world. By paying reverence to his surroundings, he has crafted a deeply expressive, strikingly original album that echoes with love and respect for our environment. A contender for one of the year’s most unique jazz releases.
ANINON – Within
AINON’s sophomore album “Within” is a mesmerizing journey through the realms of jazz, contemporary, and classical music. Led by the visionary cellist-composer Aino Juutilainen, this Helsinki-based quartet weaves a tapestry of sounds that pays homage to the avant-garde legacies of Abdul Wadud and Jimmy Giuffre. The ensemble’s sound is a seamless blend of their individual voices, with Juutilainen’s cello providing a rich, melodic foundation complemented by Merimaija Aalto’s haunting violin and viola, Milo Linnovaara’s explorative woodwinds, and Joonas Leppänen’s dynamic drumming. From the ambient classical soundscapes of “Water” to the rolling groove of “Komorebi,” AINON effortlessly navigates through the diverse shades of their “avant-garde chamber jazz” aesthetic. Standout tracks like the ethereal “Fauna” and the aptly titled “Whorls, whirling” showcase the quartet’s ability to craft immersive sonic landscapes that captivate the listener’s imagination. Juutilainen’s compositions, along with Leppänen’s “Shattered,” exhibit a deep understanding of texture and atmosphere, inviting the audience to lose themselves in the music’s intricate details. With “Within,” AINON solidifies their position as one of the contemporary jazz scene’s most exciting and innovative voices.
Lampen – Halogen
Lampen’s sophomore album “Halogen” immerses the listener in a hypnotic, slow-burning sonic world. This Finnish duo, comprised of guitarist Kalle Kalima and drummer/percussionist Tatu Rönkkö, draws inspiration from drone-metal pioneers Earth and Australian minimalists The Necks to forge a captivating sound that transcends genre boundaries. Throughout nine tracks, Lampen crafts meditative, deep, contemporary jazz scapes that ebb and flow with a low-key intensity. Kalima’s fuzzy, sustained guitar tones and Rönkkö’s patient, ritualistic percussion coalesce into immersive, widescreen atmospheres that unfurl gradually and organically. Ideas germinate unhurriedly, building in hypnotic waves. Standouts like the aptly titled “Messner” and “Soleil du Sud 1” exemplify Lampen’s mastery of tension and release. The tracks simmer with brooding, krautrock-inspired grooves before cresting in cathartic crescendos of fuzz-drenched distortion. It’s a transcendent experience akin to navigating vast, uncharted sonic terrain. With “Halogen,” Lampen has solidified their place among forward-thinking jazz luminaries, sculpting a richly immersive, boundary-defying sound that demands patient, deep listening.
El Khat / القات – mute
mute is the third album by El Khat, the Berlin-based, Jaffa-raised Yemeni band. El Khat comprises multi-instrumentalist El Wahab, percussionist Lotan Yaish, and organist Yefet Hasan. It has always been faithful to its heritage. At the core of El Khat’s sound are raw percussive textures and melodies inspired by Middle Eastern pop. Despite its polyrhythmic grooves and homemade Yemeni instruments, mute is surprisingly minimalistic yet rich in humanitarian messages. Tracks like “Intissar” and “Zafa” hope for reconciliation among people who are segregated by geopolitical tug-of-war. Striking, impactful, and a must-listen.
Mamman Sani & Tropikal Camel – Nijerusalem
“Nijerusalem” is a scintillating fusion of vintage synth warmth and African electronic rhythms that breathes new life into Nigerien folk traditions. Mamman Sani, the pioneering Nigerien synth artist, joins forces with Berlin-based electronic maverick Tropikal Camel, weaving a rich blend of authentic and innovative sounds from their diverse Hausa, Tuareg, North African, and Middle Eastern backgrounds. Sani’s intimate electronic organ melodies, first recorded in 1978, have long been cherished by fans for their unique blend of traditional Nigerien motifs and synth experimentation. This album captures the organic chemistry that sparked when the two artists shared a studio residency at Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Festival, fusing Sani’s synth melodies with Tropikal Camel’s percussive electronic beats over two inspired weeks. The standout “Nomadic” encapsulates the vibrant journey of rural nomads through a signature Nigerien swing rhythm, while “Sultan Umnaru’s Trip” is a cinematic narrative of a tribal leader’s expedition, enriched by North African percussion and live bass. “Touareg Spaceship” beautifully distils the cultural essence of the Touareg people through a waltz-like cadence exploring their folk rhythms. With “Nijerusalem,” Mamman Sani and Tropikal Camel invite us into their timeless, intimate, and minimalist sonic world – an intoxicating dialogue of cultural exchange that pays homage to the warm synth sounds of the 80s while infusing them with an innovative African electronic aesthetic.
Max Jaffe – Reduction of Man
Reduction of Man is a bold sonic exploration that distils Max Jaffe’s formative years in New York City’s improvised and experimental music scenes. Conceived as a preemptive elegy, it traces Jaffe’s trajectory of becoming fluent in multiple musical languages simultaneously rather than following a linear path. At the helm of an ensemble featuring trumpet, guitar, bass, and saxophone, Jaffe leads with one hand drumming and the other composing on the fly, guiding diverse voices towards a unified tension between noise and groove. An early adopter of Sensory Percussion technology, he pushes its boundaries by triggering “events” to which musicians respond through improvisation, with Jaffe processing and manipulating their output in real-time. The standout track “The Yasha” exemplifies this approach, its 10-minute expanse unfolding like a world created from momentary improvisational fireworks. Jaffe’s deft compositional hand moulds these chance encounters into tightly structured pieces, confidently occupying the in-between spaces of composition and improvisation, jazz and experimental electronics. Reduction of Man reflects Jaffe’s in-between existence, straddling his Korean and Jewish heritage while absorbing myriad musical subcultures. His New School jazz education exposed the spiritual connections between his punk roots and the NYC jazz world, allowing him to navigate the city’s rhythmic multiplicity. The result is a vital, groove-driven soulful noise capturing the restless energy of New York.
