Intercosmic

I sometimes recall a faintly surreal encounter outside the Bosnian city of Mostar, a few years after the war, in which a local politician's election campaign was enlivened by a local salsa band, against a backdrop of shattered architecture and barren karst. The Slavo Rican Assembly's mixture is overall infinitely more successful than the city's recent political history, but it does have a faintly surreal atmosphere too, being, well, an assembly of south-east European melodies, Hispano-Caribbean rhythms, electronica and jazz sensibilities.

Indeed, the jazz element is the strongest, and this is best approached as a jazz album, with some excellent soloing from Slovenian leader Jan Kus on richly-toned tenor and soprano sax, and nimble Cuban pianist Ahmed Alom, with perhaps the closest emotional and sonic reference points being some of Pharoah Sanders’ work from the late 70s. To my mind the various components are quilted or layered rather than fully integrated, and some of the rhythmic energy of Newyorican music is lost along with the call-and-response factor, but this is a besetting sin of Latin jazz in general. Vocalist Aleksandra Denda does a sterling job, and the arrangements are intelligent and thoughtful. It's a band I’d love to hear live.