Few records are as original in conception and overall effect achieved this year as Eurythmia - by times beautifully serene ('Soyayya') or choppily turbulent ('Sa'). The tidal wash of the music draws in thoughts of Gil Evans in historic jazz thinking and of Vula Viel much more recently. For softness and lightness of air an amalgam of European and African musicians make transference magically across balafons, djembes and bara to meld with more common jazz instruments and so much else. While highly orchestral-sounding, the process Risser uses is to ''work orally because not everyone reads music'' and you certainly wouldn't know that unless you are told. Not an album where any one player stands out and that again is significant in the group think. What the musicians achieve is a blend that draws us in close. Eve Risser and the Red Desert Orchestra, photo: Marc Chesneau
Tags: