Ancient Tribal Hearts

Prepare yourself for the mystical noise of Ka Safar – a 13-piece world jazz juggernaut whose name means ‘Spirit Journey’ and while physically based in Leicester, UK, have a time travel aesthetic with roots in ancient civilisations – Egypt, Greece, Rome – as well as the far distant galaxies. The spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra and his space-is-the-place runnings are touchstones, while Ethiopian, Indian, Japanese and Latin American elements flare and fade inside the sort of cacophonous free jazz that rewards perseverance.

Opener ‘Pyramid’ is a sharp, on-the-fly shock, a jumble of violin, horns, harp, flute, percussion and drums that steers us into the rollicking ‘Amazon and Nile’ – whose spoken word intro is a reminder of Ka Safar’s theatrical live shows, which feature everything from psychedelic lighting to creative dance to a narrator dressed in a gold bird costume. While narratives of inclusivity, love and a common humanity are sometimes lost inside the sonic maelstrom led by drummer Lee Boyd Allatson, there are tracks such as ‘The Kotharat’, an ode to the midwife goddess sung by the sweet-voiced Mellow Baku, and the rollicking, flute-trilling ‘Jikan Ma’ where golden nuggets are found inside the harmony, within the flow.