Birth & Death

Scottish jazz saxophonist-composer Phil Bancroft founded the Myriad Streams label as a grass-roots alternative to the overwhelming choices of platforms like Spotify. He re-released Headlong there, a 2004 quartet album – and his first as a bandleader – recorded with names including The Bad Plus bassist Reid Anderson, and now presents this new duo recording with tabla maestro Gyan Singh, whose Indo-fusion dabblings reveal a penchant for roots-respecting experimentation. Capturing largely improvised sessions that took place in Delhi and at Bancroft’s Glenkinchie home studio, Birth & Death draws on Celtic jazz and Indian traditions including single-scale compositions, while folding in a strong sense of groove and an aesthetic that speaks to European classical music. Bancroft’s knack for weaving fine, understated lines around drone, shakers and trembling tabla beats respects tradition while pushing at its parameters. A trio release with guitarist Graeme Stephen is out later this year.