The British jazz scene is thriving at the moment and I'm delighted to report that it doesn't involve middle aged men in striped blazers with banjos playing When The Saints Go Marching In. Based around South London, there's an exciting scene of mostly black, young jazz musicians, and The Comet Is Coming are very much at the heart of this.
Channel The Spirits & Prophecy consists of the former (the band's debut album from 2016) and the latter (a 2015 EP) on two discs.
Channel The Spirits opens with The Prophecy (confusing, isn't it), a dreamy repeated sax theme, before two high energy, exciting combinations of electronic sound, powerful drum beat and strong sax melody in Space Carnival and Journey Through The Asteroid Belt, delight. Following that the pieces become more atmospheric, electronics backed by a fierce percussion, but not much more of the toe-tapping more orthodox jazz. This isn't a criticism - there are some fantastic pieces - New Age starts with an almost ambient melody building to a spacey climax, while Star Furnace seems to go the other way, and Channel The Spirits is full-on loud beat, electronica and sax frenzy. There's even room for poet Joshua Idehen to contribute his words over an electronic percussive background in Light Years.
Prophecy was a warning of what was to follow - Neon Baby, a high energy romp of the trademark electronics and drums underneath Shabaka Hutchings' sax, Star Exploding In Slow Motion, a slower more funky yet more minimal piece and Final Day Of The Apocalypse bringing electronically layered saxes over a spoken vocal. The final three tracks weren't on the original EP, but close the disc gently, especially Transmission, a haunting piece with a single sax motif bathed in electronica.
I've enjoyed listening to this album so much. it's great to hear young people taking a well established genre and making their own mark on it. I haven't listened to the album enough since buying it, but this listening has whetted my appetite for more.
4* - a fantastic debut album, showcasing an exciting scene.
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