Batik

Gabriele Poso was born in Italy but has a musical understanding that is global in reach. This is owing to time in both Puerto Rica and Cuba studying indigenous styles. His new album, Batik, refects his eclectic tastes. Highlife guitar lines, gospel refrains, Afro-Cuban piano, it's all here. The first half of the record is joyous, and touches on aspects of dance floor culture. ‘Black Sand’ is a solid jazz-funk offering, with delicate soloing, propulsive broken-beat instrumentation and a catchy theme. ‘Xango’ marries a four-to-the-floor groove with a beautiful vocal line that soars in dedication to the orisha (deity) of thunder.

Later moments are more pensive. ‘Goldf sh’ opens with a lurching piano line that builds cleverly with a solid drum groove, though the synthesizer line is often overbearing. The dark and brooding ‘Come Back Home’, however, is a real highlight. Opening with a solo mbira line, a bewitching vocal soon takes hold, and remains latent in one's thoughts long after the first listen. Poso's talent is in melding disparate elements into a coherent whole. Doused in dance-floor sentiment, this undeniably talented multi-instrumentalist has created a modern Afro-Latin record that is sure to receive heavy circulation on the club circuit.