Al-Bahr

There’s so much going on with Finnish trio Wishamalii’s debut album that it almost invents a whole new genre of its own. Much of its brilliance comes from pianist Kari Ikonen’s self-invented tuning system, which allows him to play elusive microtones on the acoustic piano. Terry Riley attempted something similar with The Harp of New Albion, but Ikonen’s precise approach enables him to convincingly play Arabic maqamat harp melodies. He’s joined by Ethiopian-born percussionist Abdissa ‘Mamba’ Assefa and Palestinian-Jordanian singer and oud player, Nemat Battah. Battah’s languorous vocals are perfectly placed on slinky interpretations of traditional Arabic-Andalusian muwashah chants, but it’s when the trio veer off into original material that things on Al-Bahr really pick up. ‘La Paz Eterna’ has a hint of flamenco with staccato handclaps. ‘Tahmilat Bayat’ is a rhythmically complex jam with a breathtaking microtonal-jazz piano solo and lashings of weird Moog synth wibbles. All in all, Wishamalii have created a record that is a lot of fun.