With her first album in over five years, Yazz Ahmed has incorporated themes and rhythms from her Bahraini heritage with a jazz sensibility and some of the best musicians on the UK jazz scene. The result is a compelling, haunting record. It is full of energy: the hypnotic rhythms make it hard not to get up and dance. One just has to move.

For the first time, Ahmed has written lyrics for her work, in both Arabic and English. She has chosen several vocalists adept in crossing genres, each of whom uses their voice as an instrument rather than simply conveying the words. The vocal contributions by both Natacha Atlas and Brigitte Beraha are particularly mesmerising. 

Ahmed’s horn – she plays both trumpet and flugelhorn – spans a wealth of moods, from mellow to energised with some beautiful playing. Her writing weaves her horn playing with the other instrumentation, balancing the whole ensemble.

Some of the pieces on A Paradise In The Hold originated from a Jazz Lines fellowship in 2014 which gave rise to a suite. Ahmed’s reworking of the earlier material has created a powerful sound for a large ensemble, utilising the full possibilities of different combinations of instruments. George Crowley‘s bass clarinet and Ralph Wyld‘s resonant vibraphone are particularly evocative, spanning the jazz and world music elements.

The rhythm section are central to the record and its success. The pulsating bass by Dudley Phillips and Dave Manington provide the impetus to move, but it is the energetic, inventive drumming by the late Martin France that drives the music forward, emphasising what a talent has been lost.

from https://ukjazznews.com