So achingly beautiful! Yazz Ahmed's music is always a dream, no matter if it comes in long conceptual albums like "Polyhymnia" or "A Paradise In The Hold" - or as an EP with the simple premise:
Music celebrating the healing power of the natural world.
YAZZ AHMED - Shinrin-Yoku (12" vinyl EP) (2026)
Where are the High Fidelity nerds sorting their record collection by themes? If I was insane enough to do so, I'd probably have a Pandemic Recordings section by now. And appearantly those still keep coming, as Yazz Ahmed brings us this little collection of four songs recorded at home and remotely with friends during the height of anti-covid isolation measures in 2020.
The Japanese have at least two words I know of, which can very much be seen as approaches to the pandemic isolation situation. "Hikikomori" (="pulling inward, being confined") is one I already knew from songs of that name by Zola Jesus and Trialogos. It refers to the social phenomenon of people isolating themselves from all social contacts, living as recluse hermits inside their own four walls.
The healthier alternative is "Shinrin-Yoku" (="forest bathing"), which describes the practice of therapeutic relaxation in nature, while focusing on and connecting with your surroundings.
On this EP the British-Bahraini Jazz musician captures the latter as stunningly in her music as her congenius longtime illustrator Sophie Bass does in her once again amazingly fitting artwork.
The base of all pieces are trumpets, flugelhorn and performed or programmed electronics by Ahmed, on three of the four tracks accompanied by her partner and fellow trumpet / flugelhorn player Noel Langley.
The opener "Dawn Patrol" begins with a repeating horn and synths pattern reminiscent of The Comet Is Coming, while the dynamically grooving drums of Josh Blackmore soon stir it into Sons Of Kemet waters and Samuel Hällkvist's first atmospheric, later funky guitar complete these wonderful seven minutes of complex Jazz Fusion fire.
The title track "Forest Bathing" is the most stripped-down song, recorded by Yazz alone. It basically is a meditatively meandering flow of Electronic Ambient with a slow, patiently blooming flugelhorn solo on top of it.
On "A Moment To Be Free" the guitar returns and two further guests provide additional richness of both programmed and natural percussion. With Ahmed playing one of her mictrotonal horns this adventurous back and forth between her naturally jamming side and the spirit of her remix EPs most obviously features her signature mixture of traditional Arabisms and (Future) Jazz.
"Questions Not Answers" finally is another quieter track, a horn / trumpet duet between Yazz and Noel before an Ambient backdrop with increasingly experimental live sampling of the instruments.
This EP surely is one of those purchases where my memory blinded out the price including shipping immediately after ordering. But I just couldn't resist this treasure - and it will amortise soon enough. Maybe it already has. A just all-around wonderful release.
The Japanese have at least two words I know of, which can very much be seen as approaches to the pandemic isolation situation. "Hikikomori" (="pulling inward, being confined") is one I already knew from songs of that name by Zola Jesus and Trialogos. It refers to the social phenomenon of people isolating themselves from all social contacts, living as recluse hermits inside their own four walls.
The healthier alternative is "Shinrin-Yoku" (="forest bathing"), which describes the practice of therapeutic relaxation in nature, while focusing on and connecting with your surroundings.
On this EP the British-Bahraini Jazz musician captures the latter as stunningly in her music as her congenius longtime illustrator Sophie Bass does in her once again amazingly fitting artwork.
The base of all pieces are trumpets, flugelhorn and performed or programmed electronics by Ahmed, on three of the four tracks accompanied by her partner and fellow trumpet / flugelhorn player Noel Langley.
The opener "Dawn Patrol" begins with a repeating horn and synths pattern reminiscent of The Comet Is Coming, while the dynamically grooving drums of Josh Blackmore soon stir it into Sons Of Kemet waters and Samuel Hällkvist's first atmospheric, later funky guitar complete these wonderful seven minutes of complex Jazz Fusion fire.
The title track "Forest Bathing" is the most stripped-down song, recorded by Yazz alone. It basically is a meditatively meandering flow of Electronic Ambient with a slow, patiently blooming flugelhorn solo on top of it.
On "A Moment To Be Free" the guitar returns and two further guests provide additional richness of both programmed and natural percussion. With Ahmed playing one of her mictrotonal horns this adventurous back and forth between her naturally jamming side and the spirit of her remix EPs most obviously features her signature mixture of traditional Arabisms and (Future) Jazz.
"Questions Not Answers" finally is another quieter track, a horn / trumpet duet between Yazz and Noel before an Ambient backdrop with increasingly experimental live sampling of the instruments.
This EP surely is one of those purchases where my memory blinded out the price including shipping immediately after ordering. But I just couldn't resist this treasure - and it will amortise soon enough. Maybe it already has. A just all-around wonderful release.
Sshhhh... if you need more Yazz Ahmed, you definitely need to check out her appearance on French TV, where she recently presented a live re-imagination of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew":
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