An album from the entire London jazz community

A whole scene captured in a brief moment, Brownswood Recordings’ We Out Here showcases the best of London’s young, growing jazz movement. Crossing the sounds of hip hop, jazz, neo soul, and afrobeat (and even slight acid house vibes on Moses Boyd’s track), this album brings together a carefully curated collection of diverse sounds, with an underlying ‘London-ness’ inherent across all of them. Within only three days of recording, Shabaka Hutchings (musical director for the project) was able to put a spotlight on the musicians that are driving this scene, capturing perfectly this pivotal time for the musicians as artists.

The album opens with a dark, melancholy rumble on piano joined by bass-clarinet and flute to form a harmonically empty, slow moving build into a beautiful cacophony of horns and percussion, with heavy, impacting cadences thrown in also. This piece sets the tone for the album; a mysterious introduction to an eclectic yet harmonious collection of songs.

The next tune, ‘Pure Shade’ by Ezra Collective, draws heavily on afrobeat influence, although without the same sort of anguish in its sound. Introduced by the mellow tone of the keys and soft-spoken voice of horns, the song is set. The rich, modal harmonies of the keys provide warmth amongst the blue horn melodies and persistent droning bassline, all moving independently. Everything is kept within the delicate touch of the drummer, who dictates the vibe of the song. Halfway through, these standalone voices are united, with everyone moving together in a subdued fanfare.

Triforce’s ‘Walls’ is introduced by the clean, soft swells of Mansur Brown’s guitar (a musician who you should seriously keep an eye on), with bass and keys soon mimicking after. The guitar then comes in with an abrasive, distorted melody ramping up this almost rock-like ballad which, after a thunderous crescendo, breaks through into a tranquil, slow groove. A relaxed, lazy melody comes in from the synth with an abrasiveness that compliments the previous guitar melody.

Overall, this collection is possibly the best description of London’s jazz scene currently, and a marker for future success. Even with great variation across each track, this album still holds a common sound that’s so indicative of this movement. We Out Here is an announcement for these musicians, showing their ever growing presence in the industry, and a statement to let people know what jazz is within London’s culture.

We Out Here

5 Stars

Artist: Various. Label: Brownswood. Top Tracks: Pure Shade, Walls, The Balance. For Fans Of: Jussef Kamaal, Blue Lab Beats, Binker Moses. 56 minutes