Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics – (ost)
Strut Records: 2010
Jazz, in its truest essence, is an unfathomable genre driven by gut feelings and raw emotions. When performed correctly, jazz music just is — it’s an artform you can embrace, even if you can’t find the descriptive words. You just like it, and you’re not sure why. That’s exactly how I feel when listening to The Heliocentrics, a London collective whose music is rooted in jazz and flirts carelessly with hip-hop, funk and electronica. On its latest project — (ost) — the group merges its aptitude with that of Lloyd Miller’s to create a project that is seamless, everlasting and slightly schizophrenic. There’s stability beneath the frenzied musical chaos, and a tranquility that undermines the confusion.
The Heliocentrics’ brief history began three years ago with the robust Out There, an album that garnered mass critical acclaim for its adventurous foray into experimental jazz and ambitious melding of genres. The project, which took four years to complete, stood tall as a weighty debut from an unclassified nonet with affinities for late-1960s jazz and 1970s funk. Last year, the Heliocentrics released the psychedelic Inspiration Information, Vol. 3 with legendary Ethiopian pianist Mulatu Astatke, which effectively pushed the envelope for intercontinental musical fusion and won praise from world renowned DJ/label head Gilles Peterson as one of 2009’s best albums. “Mulatu” and “Chik Chikka” blurred the lines between hip-hop and Ethiopian funk, while “Anglo Ethio Suite” built upon a foundation laid by jazz pioneers to create an epic smorgasbord.
With multi-instrumentalist Lloyd Miller, a doctor who specializes in Persian classical music, The Heliocentrics create an album that is both courageous and moody. “Bali Bronze” and “Electricone”, for instance, with its haunting flutes, forceful piano, and pounding drums, crumble the distinctions between Western jazz and Middle Eastern compositions. The same goes for “Modality,” with roots established in John Coltrane-esque jazz and Iranian arrangements. But while (ost) is fidgety and restless, the Asian-influenced “Sunda Sunset” is a five-minute massage suited for deep meditation and immense introspection. All told, (ost) could be disassembled and studied for its dedication to international influences, or praised simply as good music. Then again, with musicians like the great Lloyd Miller and the distinguished Heliocentrics at the helm, should we really be surprised?
4 out of 5
Got this. Enjoyed it.